As always, all rights to Ranma 1/2 belong to Rumiko Takahashi and
Shougakukan

Genma's Daughter
Part 1

Original concept and sketch by Steve Pardue
Story by Deborah Goldsmith and Steve Pardue

Steve Pardue <spardue@zebra.net>
Deborah Goldsmith <dgoldsmith@mac.com>

http://www.zebra.net/~spardue/anime

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The sun beat down upon the panda that lounged next to the pond,
fanning itself with a wooden signboard. Saotome Genma, master of
the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, was
downhearted. It was too hot today to stay outside as a panda, but
it was far too dangerous to stay inside right now. Genma rolled
off his back and onto his feet, then waddled slowly into the cool
water of the pond. He sat on his haunches in the middle of the
pond and idly chewed a bamboo shoot.

On the porch he could see the reason for his exile from the
house. Soun was sitting at the table, sipping tea and chatting
with the woman who sat opposite him. The woman was in her late
thirties, but looked years younger. Her dark copper hair was
bound tightly into a bun, and she wore an elegant kimono,
decorated with flower blossoms.

Genma sighed. Even after twelve long years away, Nodoka's face
still haunted his dreams -- and his nightmares. Now, to have to
sit and watch his wife from hiding tore at his soul. Of course,
it would be much, much worse if Nodoka were to actually discover
he and his son. He was just glad that Ranma was still at school
when Nodoka came calling. He'd have to take the boy on a nice
long training trip tomorrow.

After Kasumi stepped into the room and placed a small tray of
sweets on the table, Nodoka lowered her head as she asked Soun a
question. Genma couldn't hear their conversation, but he saw Soun
shake his head slowly. Nodoka reached down to the wrapped bundle
which lay at her feet and clutched it in her lap. Then she
lowered her head to her chest. Genma was so busy staring at his
wife that he missed Soun glaring at him.

Suddenly, from the street outside the gate, Genma heard the
pounding of feet and the usual cacophony of shouts and insults
which followed Ranma around. Let the boy be a boy, let the boy be
a boy, he chanted mentally. Heaven help him if Nodoka saw Ranma
in his girl-form.

Suddenly Ranma bounced over the wall, her pigtail fluttering in
the wind as she flew through the air. As she landed she swung her
body about swiftly, her right foot cutting through the air to
catch Kunou as he appeared over the wall, his body stretched out
in mid-glomp. Caught by Ranma's kick, Kunou was launched
heavenward, out cold.

Snorting at the kendoist's flight, Ranma turned towards the
house, ignoring the panda in the pond. She pulled her shirt up
and twisted it out, trying to remove at least some of the water
which had thoroughly soaked it. Mumbling, she stepped up on the
porch and headed towards the stairs.

"Ranko?"

Ranma continued toward the stairs, ignoring the stranger who was
speaking to Soun. The woman stood and walked quickly to the door
of the room, and watched as Ranma climbed the stairs.

"Ranko?" the woman asked again, her voice trembling under the
strain of suppressed hope.

Ranma paused and looked down at the woman. She was standing at
the bottom of the stairs now, staring up at Ranma with longing in
her eyes. Ranma shifted her weight uncomfortably, fidgeting under
the woman's unnerving gaze. Behind the woman Ranma could see that
her pop had entered the house and was busy flashing her signs
telling her not to talk to the crazy woman.

Ignoring her father, Ranma spoke. "Sorry, lady. My name ain't
Ranko. It's Ranma."

The woman looked at Ranma carefully before speaking. "Are you the
daughter of Saotome Genma?"

Ranma shifted her weight again. She didn't like to lie, but it
was probably easier to just say yes than to try and explain about
the curse. "Well, yeah, I'm his kid," Ranma answered cautiously.
Suddenly the woman surged up the stairs and grabbed Ranma,
holding her tightly and sobbing softly. Ranma found that she was
comforted by the close contact. She couldn't even remember the
last time someone had held her like this. Unsure of what to do,
she held her arms stiffly at her sides and tried to pull back
away from the woman. "Umm... do I know you? Pop didn't promise
you I'd marry your son or anything did he?"

The woman looked up at Ranma and ran a hand across her cheek,
cupping Ranma's chin. "Don't you remember me?"

Ranma shook her head; the woman looked hurt by her answer. She
looked deeply into Ranma's eyes, and gathered herself before she
spoke. "I'm Saotome Nodoka, Ranko. I'm your mother." Ranma looked
closely at the woman as her mind struggled to take it all in.
"M-mother?"

Nodoka nodded and hugged Ranma again. Ranma, though still visibly
uncomfortable with the close contact, couldn't help responding.
Tears trickled down Ranma's cheeks as she hugged her mother.
"Mom," she whispered. It felt as if some missing part of her life
had finally been returned. Ranma noticed that her Pop was
scurrying out of the house with his pack in hand, but was too
shocked by meeting her mother to do anything about it.

Nodoka cradled her child's face and kissed her forehead before
pulling her into another tight hug. "Finally, after these twelve
long years, finally I've found you, my daughter." Nodoka combed
Ranma's hair back with her fingers.

Nodoka's words finally sank into Ranma's brain. "D-daughter?
Don't you mean son?"

Nodoka looked curiously at the red-haired girl in front of her.
"Ranko, you're my only child. Of course I mean daughter!"

Ranma's face was beginning to show panic. "But I'm a guy!"

"Ranko, that is not funny and no way for any daughter of mine to
talk."

"But I'm a guy! I'm your son, not your daughter!"

Nodoka stared wide-eyed at the girl in front of her. Kami-sama...
she's not joking. "Genma," she whispered, "what have you done?"

Ranma pulled away from Nodoka's relaxed grip and rushed down the
stairs. "Pop! Pop!" she screamed as she rushed for the door.
Nodoka followed the girl slowly, still trying to make sense of
Ranko's odd words. She heard another voice call out briefly in
greeting, followed by a loud crash. Turning the corner towards
the genkan, she saw her daughter sprawled face down on the floor
with another girl about her age standing over her. The new girl
was holding a hand to her head and grimacing.

"Ranma, you baka! Watch where you're going!"

On the floor, Ranma stirred and struggled to stand. The
red-haired girl wobbled briefly and shook her head before she
stumbled out the door with a lurch.

"Ranma! Where are you going? Aren't you even going to apologize
to me?"

Nodoka, who had walked towards the two girls as Ranma had charged
out the door, softly placed a hand on the new girl's shoulder.
The girl turned towards her, her eyes meeting Nodoka's. "Akane?"
Akane probed her head carefully, wondering if the knot was going
to be very large. It was just like Ranma to run her down in the
doorway and then leave her to face a complete stranger, who he
was probably running away from anyway! Shaking her head to clear
the remaining cobwebs, she answered the woman. "Yes?"

Nodoka searched Akane's eyes for some sign of recognition, but
found none. The sound of footsteps in the hall behind her caused
her to turn again. Soun stood there, with Kasumi beside him. Soun
started to speak, but apparently couldn't find the right words.
He settled, instead, for successfully fighting back his
ever-present tears. Kasumi stepped forward to gently grasp both
Nodoka's and Akane's arms. "Why don't we all go sit and have a
nice cup of tea? I'm sure Ranma will be back soon."

Nodoka nodded, bewildered, and allowed herself to be led back to
the living room.

*****

Ranma slipped back over the wall of the dojo, trying to keep her
damp shirt from sticking to her chest. Even in the warm summer
evenings, a wet shirt rubbing against her chest was too much of a
reminder of the curse.

Walking towards the house, she could hear voices. Peering across
the pond into the living room, she saw Mr. Tendou, Akane, and
Kasumi sitting at the table with the woman who had grabbed her
that afternoon.

In the pit of her stomach Ranma felt the queasy, bubbly sensation
that only seemed to occur when her life was about to get worse.
Given that the old panda had just run out on her, she had no
doubt that one of his schemes was falling apart, and was most
likely about to explode in her face.

Gritting her teeth, she quietly entered the kitchen. On the stove
she found the kettle of warm water Kasumi kept for her, and
prepared to pour it over her head. She would face this like a
man, if nothing else.

When Ranma stepped into the living room from the kitchen, all
eyes turned to face him. Soun was the first to speak. "Did you
find him, Ranma?"

Shaking his head, Ranma sat at the table, in his usual spot, next
to Akane. "No, he had too much of a lead." Sensing Akane's glare,
he turned and stared back. She was probably still mad about the
butting heads thing. "But I would'a caught him if you hadn't been
hoggin' the doorway, Akane!"

Akane's face darkened. "I was not hogging the doorway! And you
should watch where you're going!"

Ranma stuck his tongue out at her, and suffered the slap to the
back of his head in silence. He figured he probably did deserve
it, even if he'd never tell Akane that.

Soun's cough brought their attention back to him. "Ranma, I would
like to introduce you to Saotome Nodoka."

Ranma looked at the woman in question. This afternoon she had
claimed to be his mother. Or rather, *her* mother. That meant she
couldn't be his mother. Ranma was surprised at the loss he felt.
Not being able to remember his own mother, he hadn't thought that
it would bother him this much anymore.

Nodoka, for her part, glared at Ranma. This handsome young boy in
the damp clothing had the same name that her daughter had used
this afternoon! Frowning, she started to speak, but Soun spoke
before she could.

"Nodoka, this is Genma's son, Ranma."

At these words, Nodoka narrowed her eyes and looked more intently
at Ranma. Akane watched the silent battle of wills between Ranma
and Mrs. Saotome. She was pretty sure that Ranma, as usual, would
fail to make the appropriate connection between this afternoon's
events and the woman's name.

"Ranma," she said urgently, tugging on his shirt sleeve. She
frowned when he jerked it out of her grasp, but she continued
anyway. "She's your father's wife!"

Nodoka nodded at Akane's words. "Indeed, I am Saotome Genma's
wife. But *I* do *not* have a son. I have a daughter, who was in
this house this afternoon." Her eyes hardened. "Who is your
mother?"

Ranma shook his head. "I... I don't remember my mother. It's
always been just me and Pop." He tried to ignore the woman's
harsh glare. "Besides, if I ain't your son, then you can't be
Pop's wife." Ranma returned Nodoka's glare with equal intensity.
"He may not be a great person, but he wouldn't cheat on his wife.
You must be married to some other Saotome Genma." Ranma turned to
Mr. Tendou for confirmation, but was not surprised to see the
tears in his eyes. No help there. Kasumi was looking thoughtfully
at her cup of tea, and Akane seemed confused.

Nodoka leaned across the table, studying Ranma intently. "No, I
am married to Saotome Genma, student of the anything-goes school
of martial arts, who trained under Master Happosai with his
friend Tendou Soun -- this gentleman sitting right here. But I
have no son. Just a single daughter! Soun and Kasumi and Akane
all told me that you know where the girl I saw this afternoon
is!" Rising, Nodoka leaned across the table towards Ranma. The
cloth wrapped around her bundle slid down to reveal the hilt of a
katana. Ranma couldn't help swallowing at the sight.

Surprisingly, it was Kasumi who broke the tableau, looking
pointedly at Ranma. "Ranma, you really should explain everything
to Saotome-san. She deserves to know."

"Aw, come on Kasumi. You don't believe all this do you? I mean,
you know I'm a guy." He looked at the eldest Tendou daughter. She
was considering him with a confused look on her face and seemed
to be taking an awfully long time to answer. "Right? Right? I'm a
guy!"

The glass of water poured over his head caught Ranma by surprise,
and she turned a baleful gaze on Akane, who looked at the floor,
her cheeks red with embarrassment and an empty glass in her hand.

Nodoka, who had been leaning across the table when Ranma changed,
shrieked and swiftly clapped her hand over her mouth. Still
leaning towards Ranma, she stared as the girl turned towards
Akane. "Ranko... what..."

Ranma turned back to the woman. "I told you, my name is Saotome
Ranma. Not Ranko."

"But you were a boy a second ago! How... You are Ranko, aren't
you?" Her quivering voice, filled with both dread and hope, tore
at Ranma's heart. The red-haired girl ducked her head, unable to
look at the woman.

Nodoka turned to Akane. "What did you do?"

Ranma spoke up before Akane could. "It's an ancient Chinese
curse. Me and Pop fell into these cursed pools in China. When I
get splashed with cold water I turn into a girl. Hot water
changes me back."

"You are her! You are my daughter, Saotome Ranko." Nodoka looked
at Soun, her eyes entreating him to say something, anything.
"Tell her, Soun! You know Genma doesn't have a son! You and Keiko
were there when Ranko was born!" Soun still refused to speak,
retreating further into his shield of tears. Akane fumed at his
cowardice.

"Hey, like I said before, I'm a boy!" Ranma objected.

Nodoka looked at Ranma evenly. "You are my daughter! Your hair is
almost the same color as mine was at your age, and I'd know those
blue eyes anywhere. How many Japanese girls are redheads? And
your birthday is March 18, 1983, is it not?"

Kasumi nodded. "That is your birthday, isn't it Ranma?"

Ranma jerked her head in response. "Yeah, but so what? She can't
be my mother if she had a daughter. I've been a boy my whole
life!"

Nodoka pointed at Ranma. "How can you possibly say that you're
not a girl?"

"I told you, it's a Chinese curse! It's magic! I was born a boy.
The *curse* changes me into a girl. Just like Pop's a man and the
curse changes him into a panda. If I'd been born a girl, the
Nyannichuan wouldn't have any effect on me." Ranma smirked. That
should prove that she was a boy. The red-headed girl was his
cursed form, not his male body. How could Pop have possibly
changed her from a girl to a boy? Ranma had been a boy as long as
she could remember!

Nodoka stared at Ranma. "You claim that the panda I saw earlier
was Genma? I don't believe you!"

"Yeah, but you believe that a boy can change into a girl
don'tcha?" Ranma couldn't help sounding smug as she responded.

Akane looked thoughtfully at Ranma. "Or that a girl could change
into a boy, Ranma." Ranma glared at her, but Akane wouldn't stop.
"She knows your birthday, and she's right about your hair."

"Hey, this hair is the hair of some Chinese girl from 1500 years
ago!"

Akane had turned to her father. "Daddy, its true, isn't it? You
know her don't you? She is Ranma's mother?"

Soun remained sitting, staring at the table, tears crawling down
his face.

Ranma grinned. "See, its not true!"

Akane punched the girl next to her in the arm. "He's not denying
it either, you baka. And you know he would if it wasn't true.
He'd never let some stranger break up our engagement."

Nodoka gasped. "You are engaged to Akane?"

Ranma blushed. "It was all Pop's fault! He didn't stop at Akane,
either... he engaged me to Ucchan, too..." She turned a deeper
red and wondered if she should have mentioned that.

"How could Genma engage you to a girl? Worse, to *two*?" Nodoka's
brows furrowed in anger. "Absolutely not! I will not permit it!
It would be scandalous for a daughter of the Saotome family to
marry another woman. No daughter of mine is going to marry
another girl! Soun, how could you and Genma do this to our
children?"

As she waited for Soun's answer, Nodoka heard Ranma shriek.
Quickly looking back, she saw two tiny hands groping her
daughter, and a small, bald head nuzzling her neck. Nodoka's eyes
widened. "You!" she gasped.

Happi looked around the room, smiling. "Family reunions are so
touching. I'm glad you finally met your mother, Ranma. Or is that
Ranko, now?"

Ranma grabbed the twisted old freak by his neck and held him
against the table. "What do you mean, 'Ranko'? My name is Ranma!"
Happi nodded enthusiastically. "Well, of course, of course. Your
name is Ranma." He smirked. "Now."

Nodoka gasped at the twisted little man's words. "You knew!"

Ranma tried to throttle him again, but the little man easily
slipped from her grasp.

Leaping after him, Ranma screamed. "It's not true!"

"Well, of course it's true, Ranma. And I should know. Who else do
you think Genma and Soun would come running to once they found
out they'd never have sons to carry on the families' schools?"
All of the people in the room stared at Happi in shock. Nodoka
drew her katana and waved it threateningly. "You helped that
bastard do this to my beautiful baby girl?" The point of the
katana hovered around Ranma's neck, causing her to flinch away
from Nodoka.

Akane's temper was starting to flare. "Daddy, what does he mean,
'Genma and Soun'? You didn't help him do this to Uncle Saotome's
daughter, did you?"

Kasumi looked crossly at Soun, as he retreated further into his
veil of tears.

Ranma protested again. "I'm a guy! Why does everyone want me to
be a girl?"

Happi turned his gaze across the room. "I saw how cute she was,
and knew that my darling little Ranko was going to grow up to be
a fine, healthy young woman." Here he gave the young woman in
question a lecherous grin, causing her to snarl at him. "I was
just glad to find out the lad had fallen into that spring at
Jusenkyo."

Ranma lunged for him, but he bounded out of the room, barely
ahead of her. Charging for the door, Ranma was brought up short
by Nodoka grabbing her shirt.

"Ranko! Stay away from the Master! No good ever comes to any girl
who comes near him!"

Incensed by the latest reference to being a girl, Ranma rounded
on Nodoka. "How many times do I have to say it? I ain't a girl!"
Grabbing the pot of tea off the table, Ranma poured it over
herself.

Nodoka gasped at the transformation, clutching her katana tightly
to her chest. "Damn Genma, damn him and the Master for doing this
to you, Ranko!"

Ranma tried to match the woman's gaze, but its intensity forced
him to look away. "I am a man. I ain't your daughter."

The room suddenly descended into silence. Ranma, unable to look
at the face of the woman whose heart he had just pierced, found
the silence just as painful as her face.

Nodoka stood staring at the young man, the young man she knew
must be her daughter. "I am sorry for having disturbed you. I
will not do so again." Gripping her sword tightly, she bowed to
the girls and Soun at the table, then departed.

Ranma looked up, only to see her back as Nodoka walked quickly
towards the door. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her back as she
left.

Akane stalked across the room towards him. "How could you do that
to your own mother, Ranma? After all the years you've been
separated, how could you do that to her?"

Ranma looked at Akane, shock on his face. "What do you mean?" He
looked across the pond at the moon breaking through the clouds.
"She ain't my mother. You heard her, she has a daughter. I'm a
guy. I don't know why she thinks I'm her daughter."

"You mean her red-haired, blue-eyed daughter who was born on the
same day as you, Ranma?"

"Hey, it could happen!"

"And she's married to a Saotome Genma?"

"Yeah, well..."

Gathering the dishes at the table, Kasumi glanced at her father.
"She was here all afternoon, Father. Is she really Uncle
Saotome's wife?"

Soun looked at the table as he answered. "Yes." Looking at Ranma,
he spoke again. "She is your father's wife, Ranma."

Ranma paled. "She can't be my mother, can she?"

Soun stood from the table, and reached into his gi to pull out a
pack of cigarettes. "Only Genma can answer that question."
Tapping the pack, he pulled out a cigarette and stepped out on
the porch.

Ranma turned to the stairs. "Goodnight."

"You're just going to go to bed?" Akane shouted after him.

Ranma turned around. "Yeah. That's *exactly* what I'm gonna do."

*****

The next evening found Ranma following Akane through an
unfamiliar part of Nerima ward. A twenty minute walk had been
spent in silence, and Ranma could hardly believe that he had let
Akane talk him into coming at all. It had taken her all day.

"I still can't believe that you're draggin' me to see her, Akane.
What gives you the right to butt into my life like that?" He
scowled. "You even told her we might stay the night!"

Akane gave Ranma a dirty look. "What I wouldn't give to have a
chance to get my mother back, and you just throw yours away."
Stopping her march up the street she turned to face Ranma. "You
have to see her, Ranma, she is your mother! It's the only decent
thing to do."

Ranma took a step back in irritation. "'Decent thing'? What do
you mean by that? Do you want me to be a girl?"

"No, I just want you to have a chance to see your mother!"

"Well, what if I don't want to see her? What if she ain't my
mother?"

Akane frowned at Ranma, but before she could reply, she was
interrupted by Nodoka's voice. "Akane-chan, is that you?"

Ranma and Akane looked up the street to see Nodoka standing in
the gate to a well-kept house. She was looking at the two
teenagers intently. "Hello, Akane-chan, Ran-" Nodoka swallowed.
"Ranma."

Ranma sullenly bobbed his head in response.

"I heard voices, so I came outside... I have to admit I'm
surprised you called. I thought after last night, that..." The
older woman paused, and looked to the two teenagers thoughtfully.
"Won't you come inside? I will prepare some tea for us."

Akane smiled and dragged her reluctant companion to the gate of
the house. "Thank you, Saotome-san." She frowned at Ranma when he
failed to greet his mother. Finally he relented and mumbled a
greeting as well.

"Please call me Auntie, Akane-chan. I knew you very well when you
were little." They followed her inside.

The inside of the house was hard for Akane or Ranma to describe.
It felt almost like a shrine, well kept and well loved, but with
the sort of omnipresent weight that made you want to speak in
whispers.

As Nodoka entered the kitchen, Ranma and Akane sat on a couch,
both of them carefully making sure that they were far enough
apart so that they wouldn't accidentally touch one another, but
still close enough to feel the other's presence.

Ranma leaned his head close to Akane's and whispered, "This is
spooky. It feels so quiet."

Akane nodded. "She must be very lonely. She's been living here by
herself for twelve years, thinking about her lost family." Akane
gave Ranma a pointed look.

Although Ranma could be dense at times, he didn't miss the
meaning of Akane's stare. "I told you, she can't be my mom. She's
got a daughter, and I'm a guy."

Reaching to the table at the end of the couch, Akane picked up a
picture that she had seen when she sat down, and handed it to
Ranma. In it a young woman sat wearing a wedding kimono of the
purest white. At her shoulder stood a young man in a splendid
gray kimono. The woman was almost the spitting image of Ranma's
girl form. The slim man, with only a little imagination, was
clearly Genma. Half his hair was already gone.

Ranma held the picture as he looked at it for a long minute. As
he stared at the picture, Nodoka returned to the room, carrying a
tray with a pot of tea and three cups. "I see you found my
wedding photo."

Akane nodded as she took her cup of tea. Ranma continued to stare
at the picture, and tried to ignore the icy feeling that was
starting to crawl up his spine. Nodoka sat a cup of tea in front
of the boy, and quietly took a sip of her own. "I am sorry for my
actions yesterday, Ranma."

Ranma looked up at the woman, who was staring back at him. After
no one spoke for several seconds, she dropped her eyes and
continued. "I know that you don't believe that you are my
daughter, and I must admit that I find it hard to accept your
curse. But when I saw you walk into the Tendou's home yesterday
afternoon, when I looked into your eyes, I knew that you were my
child." Nodoka looked up and caught Ranma's eyes. Akane looked
back and forth between the two.

Nodoka sat her cup of tea on the table. "Would you like to see
Ranko, my daughter? I... I pulled out my home movies when I came
home last night." Ranma tried to look neutral at the offer, but
Akane nodded eagerly.

Nodoka stood and walked over to the TV in a corner of the room,
and opened a door in the cabinet below the TV. There were several
rows of tapes stored there. Nodoka ran her finger along the
labels, finally tapping one lightly with her finger. "I think
you'll like this one, Akane."

"Really?" Akane asked curiously.

"It was taken at Ranko's fourth birthday party, just a few months
before she and Genma disappeared." Nodoka slipped the tape into
the VCR, pressed play, and turned the TV on. Taking her seat
again, the three listened to several seconds of static before the
picture began to clear. "You'll have to forgive me if the tape is
a little scratchy; it's a copy of the original, and I view
them... quite frequently. Ahh, here we go."

On the screen, a young, smiling Nodoka waved from the kitchen
door as the person holding the camera played with the zoom.
Again, Akane was struck by just how much she looked liked Ranma's
girl form. Finally settling down, the cameraman panned around the
room, showing balloons floating above a small pile of presents,
and a table set with festive napkins and flowers.

The doorbell rang, and the camera advanced to the genkan, the
bell ringing a second time before a hand came into focus and
pulled on the door, sliding it open.

Outside a smiling family stood. In front was Soun, obviously,
with his characteristic mustache and brown gi. In front of him,
with his hand on her shoulder, was a young girl with long brown
hair in a ponytail, smiling up at the camera. Another girl with
her hair in pigtails stood hiding behind his legs, holding
tightly to the back of his pants.

"Saotome! Good to see you!" Soun exclaimed, trying to step
forward into the house, but tripping with the girl holding his
pants. "Nabiki, please."

The little girl shook her head furiously and hid her face behind
her father. Soun grinned resignedly at the camera. Digging into
his pockets he pulled out a coin. "I'll give you ten yen, if you
come inside and be nice while we are at the Saotomes'."

The girl reached out her hand, and Soun placed the coin in it.
She giggled and ran in to join Kasumi. Soun shrugged with a
smile, and stepped in as well.

As they watched her family on the TV, Akane had reached out and
taken hold of Ranma's hand, squeezing it tightly. For once, Ranma
didn't say anything, sensing her mood. After they watched Soun
enter the living room they were sitting in now, Akane gasped at
what was revealed behind him.

A pretty young woman in a dress, with long black hair, was
walking into the genkan on the TV, holding a little girl in her
arms: Akane. Ranma felt Akane's hand squeeze his tighter, until
it was almost painful. "Mother," she sobbed once, and wiped the
tears from her cheek with her free hand.

Ranma awkwardly scooted over closer to Akane, and she looked at
him briefly, and smiled at him. "It's... it's OK. It just caught
me by surprise." Ranma nodded, and together, they watched the
video as it played out before them. As the next scene started,
Ranma's face turned ashen.

On the screen in front of them two little girls were having a tea
party. One of them was the young Akane they had just seen in her
mother's arms, and the other was... was a little girl with red
hair, blue eyes, and an eerily familiar face: Ranko. Ranko-chan
was wearing a frilly green sundress, her lush red hair done up in
a loose ponytail. She had two flowers in her hair, doubtless in
honor of her birthday. Akane-chan was wearing a yellow cotton
dress, and the two of them sat at a small play table with their
tea set. On the larger table behind them, Nabiki was playing shop
with a toy cash register. Occasionally, a seven year old Kasumi
would come in from the kitchen, where she was apparently helping
her mother and Nodoka.

Akane-chan and Ranko-chan had filled the empty chairs at their
table with dolls and stuffed animals, with whom they carried on
intricate conversations. Akane-chan was particularly fond of a
large stuffed pig in the chair next to her. Akane was struck by
how close the two little girls seemed.

She could hear Ranma speaking to himself softly, denying what he
saw on the television in front of him. She squeezed his hand and
felt him give her a little tug in response. It was unsettling to
her, too. How could Uncle Saotome have done such a horrible thing
to his wife and daughter? How could her own father have engaged
her to a girl? She had no doubt that the little redhead on the TV
was Ranma -- or at least, his female form. What on Earth had
happened? She now understood Ranma's rude behavior towards his
mother: he simply could not deal with this. He was denying every
shred of evidence put before him.

As the tape ended, Nodoka clicked the TV and VCR off. "Would you
like to see her room?"

Ranma and Akane looked at each other. Akane nodded encouragingly
and Ranma haltingly replied "S-sure." Nodoka led them up the
stairs down the hall to a door just past the bathroom. On the
door was a wooden cat with the name "Ranko" carved into it. Ranma
shuddered at the sign. Once the door opened, he stepped through
quickly.

Akane, following him, bumped into his back when he stopped.
"C-c-cats," he stuttered.

Akane could see that the bed was covered with stuffed animals,
many of them cats. The walls were hung with pictures of cats and
dogs. The walls were pink, and the window was covered with lacy
white curtains. The room had a sad, musty air, like a museum: it
was too neat, too orderly. She suddenly felt close to tears, as
she imagined what it must have been like for Auntie to come into
this room over the last twelve years.

Akane walked across the room to the dresser, and looked at the
framed pictures on top. One showed Ranko-chan and her parents,
one showed a huge tomcat sleeping in the sun. In the last
picture, Ranko-chan was holding the cat, which was almost as long
as she was tall, to her chest.

Amongst the pictures were several smaller items: a tiny music
box, a small figurine. The remnants of a little girl's life.
Akane felt a cold hatred wash over her, a loathing and disgust
for Saotome Genma; he had killed that little girl, his own
daughter! What kind of a monster could do that? As she pondered
the relics before her, Akane heard Ranma come up behind her. She
turned to make a comment, to let him know how she felt, but she
never got the chance.

Ranma was looking past Akane at the pictures on top of the
dresser, looking very much as if he'd seen a ghost. His eyes were
wide, and there was something in them Akane wasn't used to
seeing: desperate fear. Ranma looked like a trapped animal. His
head moved slightly from side to side, as if saying "no", but his
eyes never left the photographs on top of the simple pine
dresser.

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. His arms came
up and he hugged himself. Breaking his eyes away, he abruptly
turned away towards the bed, and after gingerly pushing the
stuffed cats to one side, as if handling some dangerous
substance, sat down heavily. Akane leaned on the dresser, while
Nodoka regarded both of them from the door, not quite sure what
was going on. Ranma still had the trapped look on his face.

Akane was really worried; this wasn't like Ranma at all. "What is
it, Ranma? What's wrong?"

Ranma looked to Akane, then to Nodoka, then down to the slightly
worn cream-colored carpet, which he studied intently. It showed
its age, but was spotless, no doubt thanks to his mother. "I...
I..." he stopped, then tried again. "I... remember. Th-that
c-c-cat. And the... dr-dress. Mom was always tellin' me to not
pick him up, 'cause I always got c-cat hair all over" -- he
swallowed -- "my dress. That picture's the first thing out of all
the stuff I've seen and heard that I actually remember myself. I
guess... I was too young to remember very much, but I remember
that." He shivered. "Oh... oh, Kami-sama, I'm... I'm... really a
girl." He put his head down on his knees and hugged them, trying
to curl into a ball.

His head was spinning. He had been denying this conclusion ever
since he was first reunited with his mother. He could deny his
mother's words, he could deny Happosai's account, he could deny
the photographs and videos he had seen. But he couldn't deny his
own memories. And he had memories -- fragmented, fuzzy, and few,
but memories nonetheless -- of being a little girl. The dam he
had built in his mind against the implications of what his mother
was telling him -- and against other things -- abruptly gave way,
and from behind the dam came the flood.

Akane looked on, her heart aching in sympathy. Ranma seemed to be
starting to accept his past. What that meant, she didn't know,
and she was afraid that the strong, confident person she had
known was falling apart before her eyes. She felt pity, and
wondered that she would ever feel such an emotion about Ranma.
The following weeks and months were going to be hard on him, and
she resolved to put aside all the bickering and be Ranma's
friend, for he was surely going to need one. She had made such
resolutions before, and failed, and this time vowed to put all
her will and strength into it. She moved towards Ranma.

Ranma felt numb, as if he were freezing to death. The room seemed
to fade away as his senses shut down. The simple fact that he,
Saotome Ranma, Man Amongst Men, was a girl, a girl named Ranko,
occupied his entire universe, crowding everything else out. Time
seemed to slow down, as this fact rolled over and engulfed every
truth he had held about himself. His view of who he was was
disintegrating, replaced by an enormous gulf of questions and
uncertainty. He felt Akane sit next to him on the bed and put an
arm around him, and murmur soothing words... comforting him... as
if he were... he were...

No! That was the past! That was when he was a small child. It
didn't matter now! He *had* to be a guy! His head came up in
defiance, and his eyes met his mother's. The hope mixed with
concern that he saw written there nearly washed away his
determination, but he forged ahead anyway.

"Mom... I guess... I guess I am your... d-daughter. But, I spent
most'a my life as a guy! It's all I know now! I can't... be a
girl! I gotta be a man..." He stopped as he saw the hope drain
slowly from his mother's face. His head started to spin again...

His mother stood silent for a few moments, then spoke carefully,
her emotions under tight control. "Ran... Ranma. Dear, all I want
is for you to be happy. You have to live in the way that is most
comfortable for you and makes you happy. If you... if you decide
that means staying a boy, then... I... I just want you to be
happy... I'm just glad that you are back in my life. I won't ever
lose you again!" Ranma knew she meant it, but he also saw the
tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, and knew that she
wanted her daughter back, more than anything else in the world.
She had shown as much by searching for her for so many years. His
resolve faltered, and the numbness started to return. Something
in his mother's words nagged at him, but he shoved that aside, as
he always did.

Nodoka sighed, a long tired sigh, and seemed to grow a little
older in that moment, sagging against the door frame. She rubbed
her eyes. "If you children will excuse me, this has been a very
long day, and I need to rest. Akane, there is a futon all laid
out for you in the spare bedroom." The mundane conversation broke
the tense mood in the room. Akane nodded and stood up from the
bed.

Ranma, still somewhat disoriented from his epiphany, and by the
fact that he hadn't gotten the arguments he was expecting from
his mother, asked "Mom? Ummm, what about me?"

Nodoka raised her eyebrows in query. "Why, of course you're
sleeping in here, dear. Why?"

Ranma's eyes darted to the pile of cats pushed to one side of the
bed. "With THEM?"

*****

Later that night, the stuffed cats safely banished to a cardboard
box in the closet, Ranma lay in a little girl's bed -- *his* bed
-- and stared at the ceiling. His mind was swirling with
half-formed thoughts. The entire foundation of his life, the
basis on which everything else was built, had given way. If he
wasn't Saotome Ranma, man amongst men, who was he? What was he?
If he was really a girl, what did that mean? How did he feel
about that? Quickly, a litany of insults streamed forth from his
memories of his father -- "weak" "stupid" "silly" "a distraction
from the Art" "less than a man" -- and quashed that line of
inquiry. These attitudes had been drilled deep into him for
twelve long years on the road. The idea of being a girl made him
feel as if he were every one of those things. But, he now knew
that everything the old man had taught him was suspect, tainted;
if he had lied about and corrupted Ranma's very identity, he
could lie about anything, twist any truth to suit him. Did that
include even the Art itself? Was that a fraud too?

Ranma didn't know what to believe in any more. He didn't know
what to feel about his father; what the man had done was so
horrible, Ranma couldn't quite grasp it. So much of what he was
he owed to his father. And it was all a lie, a lie on a colossal
scale. Was he a lie, too? If he remained a man, was he an
accomplice to Genma as well as a victim? Did he join his father
in this crime? But how could he possibly do anything else?

As he lay there, he suddenly noticed a barely audible sound
coming from down the hallway. He strained his ears, sensitive
from years of running away with his father in the dead of night,
and heard soft, muffled sobs. He quickly turned over on his side,
towards the wall, hiding from the sounds, his eyes suddenly shut
tight, tears threatening to force their way out. It was his
mother, and he knew she was grieving for the daughter she might
never see again, even though her child had returned. Ranma lay
there for a time, feeling miserable and low; how long, he didn't
know. He didn't know if he could do what his mother wanted, what
his honor told him he should do. He didn't even know how he felt
about it.

Finally he sighed and opened his eyes, finding himself face to
face with a cheerful rag doll; there hadn't been room in the
closet for anything but the cats. The doll had a big smile, eyes
that laughed, and was dressed in a peasant dress and a straw
bonnet. He couldn't help but smile for a moment, but it soon
faded and he regarded her seriously. "What am I gonna do? I can't
let Pop get away with what he did. I can't stand seein' Mom like
this, and me bein' a guy makes it worse. But I can't be a girl! I
just can't! At least..." He trailed off. The doll kept on
smiling, impervious to Ranma's troubles. He regarded her for a
few moments more, then rolled over on his back to look at the
ceiling once more. "Reminds me'a Kasumi..." he sighed, and tried
once again to sleep.

*****

Akane turned on her side, trying to keep the morning sun from her
eyes, but it was too late; she was awake. Unlike Ranma, it took
very little to wake her up. She sighed, rolled back over on her
back, and looked around the room.

Since the Saotomes had had only a single child, there was little
in the room in the way of furnishings. Having never had a real
occupant, the contents were sparse; odd cast-offs and older
pieces from other rooms in the house, items intended for storage
or disposal. No one had ever been in the room long enough to
imbue it with a soul. Akane found the atmosphere kind of sad. The
room needed someone to live in it to give it life; maybe Auntie
would let her do something with it if she were going to be
staying here often.

She had been too tired last night to think about all that had
happened, but she found her thoughts quickly returning to Ranma.
There was no doubt now that Ranma was Ranko, that he had been
born a girl and spent the first few years of his life that way.
She knew they shouldn't have doubted Auntie Saotome to begin
with, but the idea had been so fantastic, so impossible, that she
and Ranma had clung to their doubts until the last of them was
forcibly removed. Ranma had remembered his own girlhood, and
there was no arguing with that. And Akane found that the
bombardment of images and stories from that time were starting to
dislodge a few, faint memories of her own.

She hadn't remembered anything of what they had seen in the
video, as she had been sitting there holding Ranma's hand, but
there were tantalizing hints of... sitting... she remembered
sitting... sitting with a little girl with a red pony-tail...
playing with her in a sandbox while their mothers looked on--

Akane gasped. She had never managed to remember her mother
before. Until now, she hadn't had a single shred of a single
memory of the woman who had died when she was a little girl. The
simple glimpse of her mother in the video the night before had
been a wonderful gift. She grabbed at the memory, straining to
extract every last bit from it that she could, to know her mother
in a way she hadn't been able to. But few details came. Her
mother had been, well, her mother: a fixture, a constant in the
universe, part of the background, not a new and interesting
object to be examined in detail, poked and prodded. She couldn't
recall much. She sighed in frustration, and tears came to her
eyes... tears... she was crying... and... and... "My shovel
broke, mommy! It broke!" Her head was buried in her mother's lap,
her mother's hand stroking her hair, then... what? Another
shovel? Akane thought hard; another shovel? Where did that come
from? A hand, holding it towards her, offering it; her mother's?
No, a child's hand... the little red-haired girl's hand. And
words that, for a change, were clear:

"Please don't cry, 'kane. You're my bestest friend!"

Akane couldn't quite believe this. She had been carrying this
memory in her head for almost as long as she had been alive. It
had been utterly lost, until recent events had pulled on a
thread, which had pulled on another thread and yet another, until
finally she stumbled across this fragment of her past. Did she
and Ranma... Ranko... really go back that far? Had they been such
close friends so long ago? What did it mean?

Akane's thoughts drifted back to that night many months ago, the
night when a red-haired girl had arrived on her doorstep, carried
by a panda. How had she felt then? It was less than a year ago,
and her memories were clearer, but could she remember her
feelings? She remembered the shock of a panda strolling in the
front door, almost overshadowing the red-haired girl with it.
They had been expecting a boy, and when the others started poking
at Ranma and making comments, Akane had leapt to her defense,
jumping to protect her. "Hi, I'm Akane," she had said, "would you
like to be friends?" Ranma had smiled back, somewhat shy, and
something had passed between them. When she had found out Ranma
was a boy, she had felt utterly betrayed, almost violated; that
*boy* wasn't a real girl, couldn't be the friend she had thought
she had found. Had taken away the friend she had thought she had
found.

That she had found again?

Akane sat up slowly from her futon. She knew she had a deep
connection with Ranma which kept them together despite the
fighting, the insults, and the arguments. She had thought it
signified that they were meant for each other, meant to be
together as man and wife. And yet, the idea of being engaged to
Ranma had always grated on her; she felt like she was being
pushed into something she wasn't comfortable with, and she was
pretty sure Ranma felt the same way. She had thought that she
would be ready, in time, but that feeling of unease had
persisted. They were both uncomfortable with the engagement,
though they cared deeply for each other. And Akane found herself
losing her temper at Ranma constantly, getting angry over and
over again, mad at him for being such a jerk... such a... boy.

Akane pulled her knees up with her arms around them, rested her
head on them, and sighed. Was this the root of her attraction to
and repulsion from Ranma? Had she somehow been ready for a
red-haired girl to walk back into her life? The best friend who
had been stolen away? Was that why the idea of being engaged to
him seemed so uncomfortable? She thought of the handful of times
they had actually kissed. There had been the pleasure of sharing
something special with him, but there had always been that
discomfort... a discomfort that, she found, was now starting to
blossom into a feeling of true queasiness. Despite the schoolyard
taunts, Akane was not interested in girls, not that way, but her
feelings about Ranma had left her concerned about her own
sexuality; why had the idea of intimacy with him disturbed her so
much? Had she at some level been aware that Ranma was her
red-haired "bestest friend"? Could she now view him as anything
else?

She fell back on the futon with her hands behind her head. It
certainly seemed as if that might be the case. She knew she cared
deeply about Ranma, and the hurricane of information and memories
about their childhood had made things more clear. Ranma was her
dearest, oldest girlfriend, but being married to a girlfriend,
whether she chose to live as a man or not, was not something she
really wanted. It was just as well Auntie had canceled all
Ranma's engagements; until Ranma sorted things out, they were
just an encumberment.

She felt the love she had for Ranma, and knowing it for what it
was made her more comfortable with it, happier about it, than she
had ever been before. She couldn't help feeling sad, too, to the
point of tears: she had had dreams of being with Ranma, of
raising a family together, and those dreams seemed unlikely to
come true, now. But she also felt secure in a way she never had,
because she knew that if their bond of friendship had survived
for so many years, it was impervious in a way that romantic love
often was not. No okonomiyaki chefs or glomping Amazons or
psychotic gymnasts could come between her and her friend, could
take Ranma away from her, the thing she had feared most. She knew
now why she felt that way: she had already had Ranko taken away
from her once. She wouldn't ever let it happen again.

Maybe, just maybe, having a friend as close as Ranko... Ranma...
was worth letting go of a dream that had never seemed to come to
fruition anyway. A dream that had been based on a fraud, and had
in some ways kept them apart. Once Ranma figured out who he was,
and if that person was truly male, then perhaps there could be
new dreams, based on the person Ranma truly was... but that was
in the future. Romance had no place in their relationship until
this was all sorted out.

She shook her head. This was all so confusing, so overwhelming.
She hoped Ranma felt as deeply about their friendship as she did,
because he was going to need an anchor to hold on to in the
coming weeks. She prayed silently to Kami-sama that she would
have the strength to be a friend and help him, even when he acted
like a jerk, which could be depended on as surely as the sun rose
each day.

The brightening sun and traffic noise from outside the window
finally shook Akane out of her reverie, and she started to get
up. She took off her pajamas and quickly put on the clothes she
had laid out next to her futon the night before. The pajamas went
in her pack, the futon was carefully folded and put out of the
way, and Akane went off to see what the rest of the family was
doing.

It was still a bit early, but not terribly so, and Akane was not
surprised to find Nodoka awake and in the kitchen, preparing
breakfast. The Saotome matriarch seemed to have recovered
somewhat from the strain of the previous evening, and Akane was
greeted with a bright smile as she entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, Akane-chan! Did you sleep well?"

"Very well, Auntie. Just not long enough..." Akane smiled
ruefully.

"I'm sorry, did we wake you up?"

"Not at all, Auntie, I just wake up easily... wait a minute, did
you say 'we'?"

"Yes, Ran...ma was up before I was." her smile faltered slightly.
"She - he looked as if he hadn't slept very well. He went out
when I came down, saying he had to do some thinking. He said
you'd know where to find him and bring him back when breakfast
was ready."

Akane was stunned. Ranma, up *early*, on a Sunday? He must really
be disturbed. "I think I know where he means, Auntie. When do you
plan on serving breakfast?"

"In about half an hour, I think."

"I'll bring him back by then."

*****

A slightly damp redhead sat by the bridge that was one of her
favorite places to think. The bridge carried the Ikebukuro line
over one of the many drainage canals that snaked their way
through Nerima ward. After a few weeks of the heat of summer, it
was mostly dry, but a small stream flowed down the center. As she
sat there, an early morning train moved out over the span, its
electric motor humming and its wheels clattering on the tracks.
Ranma couldn't see into the train from her vantage point nearly
underneath the bridge, but she knew that this early it likely
held workers who were unlucky enough to have to work on a Sunday.
Come tomorrow, it would be packed with salarymen and O.L.'s on
their way to work in downtown Tokyo.

Her gaze turned to a group of children playing on the wide flat
space on the opposite bank. Their mothers sat nearby while they
ran about and screamed in delight, playing games she couldn't
quite identify from this distance. The boys and girls congregated
in different groups, each playing their own games, and the
mothers watched while chatting among themselves.

Ranma sighed and turned her attention from the outside world back
to her feet.

A soft noise caused her to turn around, and Akane was standing
there, a few yards behind her at the top of the bank, regarding
her with an inquiring gaze. She slowly descended the slope, and
sat next to Ranma. Ranma turned once more back to her minute
examination of her shoes.

"What are you thinking about, Ranma? Auntie says breakfast will
be ready in about a half hour."

"Nuthin' I wanna discuss with an uncute tomboy like you!" came
the tart response.

Akane's mallet hand itched. She silently counted to 10, then
congratulated herself; that had been pretty easy! Maybe there was
hope for her.

"Ranma, calling me names isn't going to make me go away." The
redhead sagged a bit. "Why are you angry? I just want to help
you."

Ranma started to retort that she didn't need any help from a
klutz like Akane, but stopped, and thought. Usually she was the
one doing the helping; she relied on no one, hiding her feelings
from the world. But... this was not just another fight, where she
was in her element and knew she could win. All the martial arts
in the world were not going to help her with this. She had been
going around in circles in her mind, chasing her own tail.
Maybe... maybe it was time to open up, to share her feelings, to
have someone else... help. She couldn't think of anyone other
than Akane she was willing to share these feelings with. And she
realized, she did want to share them with someone; she was weary
of fighting these demons herself, and since last night, they were
starting to overwhelm her. She *had* to open up to someone, or
she was going to go crazy. Who else could she talk to?

Ranma cast her eyes down again, and was silent for a while. Akane
bade her time, waiting for Ranma to get around to speaking. "I...
I... I'm still havin' trouble with the fact that I was born a
girl. It really shook me up."

Akane looked over at the children at play across the canal.
"Would you like to tell me how you feel?"

Ranma was silent for a few moments. "I know how Mom feels, and
what Pop did was awful, but... I... I gotta be a man! I haveta!
Or my whole life is nothin', a big waste." She swallowed. "I
can't throw all that away."

Akane turned to look at Ranma, who was fiddling with the
drawstring on the light windbreaker she had worn against the
morning chill. The windbreaker looked a little damp, and Akane
imagined that Ranma the water magnet had had a close encounter of
the wet kind on the way here. She focused on what Ranma was
saying.

"What do you mean? What would you have to throw away?"

Ranma swung around to face Akane. "My manhood, Akane! I've worked
so hard to be a real man, someone Pop could be proud of, and I
was proud of too! And... and I don't wanna be stuck as a girl,
where I can only be a housewife or an O.L. or somethin'! I haveta
be a martial arts sensei! The Art is my life!"

Akane was a little confused about Ranma's train of thought.
Something didn't mesh quite right, but she couldn't put her
finger on it. "Ranma, I know Japan is a little backwards about
women's rights, but even here there are lots and lots of choices
available to women, and being a sensei is certainly one of them.
Being a girl wouldn't keep you from doing those things, though I
have to admit it would make it harder..."

"What are you tryin' to do, Akane, turn me into a weak, stupid
girl like you?!"

Akane had to count to 30 this time, and breathe carefully for a
while. "I will not pound the jerk, I will not pound the jerk" was
her silent mantra. Ultimately she won, and was proud. If only she
could make progress like this on her cooking...

"No, Ranma, I'm not. I'm not trying to force you to do anything.
I'm trying to help you figure out the best way to be happy. You
are my friend, and I *want* you to be happy. All I was saying was
that if you do decide to be a girl, you can still achieve a lot.
Do you actually think girls are stupid and weak, or are you just
saying that for another reason?" Akane gave Ranma a piercing
look, not angry, but questioning.

Ranma blushed and looked down. "I'm... sorry, Akane. I know
you're tryin' ta help." She looked up again, up the drainage
canal, at the line of buoys that sat beached on dry land at the
point where the canal curved out of sight. Anywhere but at Akane.

"Even... even if you're right about that, I'm still a guy! I've
gotta be a guy! Bein' a real man is one of the hardest things I
ever done! I can't just throw it away!"

There it was again. Akane didn't know why, but the hairs on the
back of her neck were starting to stand up, and she had a chill
even in the warmth of the ascending summer sun. "Ranma, what do
you mean? What's so hard about being a guy?"

Ranma looked at Akane as if she were an idiot. "It's hard to be a
guy! It's really tough! That's why Pop was so proud 'a me, and I
was proud too! Bein' a man is *way* harder than bein' a girl! And
then there's the damn curse, too!"

Akane was really confused now. "You find it hard to be a guy?"

Ranma looked at Akane. "Well, duh! Ain't that what I just said? I
didn't know you were *this* dumb!"

Akane's hand twitched, and her aura flickered. In her hand, the
ghostly outline of a mallet appeared, shimmering, as if trying to
take form. She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed deeply. She
counted to 50. She had to stay in control; Ranma was lashing out
because she was confused and deeply disturbed. Her hand trembled
slightly, and the ghostly mallet faded away. When she opened her
eyes, Ranma was looking at her with wide eyes. Suddenly, Ranma
looked terribly ashamed, and buried her head on her knees. Her
muffled voice came out.

"I'm sorry, Akane... I'm sorry... I'm just so messed up right
now... I'm... I'm scared...", this last almost a whisper.

The last traces of Akane's anger evaporated. "It's... OK, Ranma,
I understand. I... just try not to insult me so much, OK? I don't
deal with it well, even though I know you don't really mean it."
She smiled. She had accomplished a lot today, and was proud,
though she knew part of it was the clarification of her own
feelings about Ranma.

Ranma looked up, and her eyes might have been a little wet. She
gave a tiny smile. "I'll... I'll try."

They both watched the scenery quietly for a while. "Ranma, when
you say it's hard to be a guy, what do you mean? I honestly don't
understand you."

Ranma thought for a while. "Well, it just ain't easy, ya know? I
gotta try so hard to be manly all the time, I gotta remember to
be a man in all things. It just ain't easy. But it's like this
for every guy; it's just harder than bein' a girl."

Akane was really confused now. "What makes you think that every
guy feels that way?"

The redhead looked surprised by the question. "Ummm... uhhhh...
Y'know, I'm not sure I remember where I heard it. I've known it
for a long time. When I was younger I used to tell Pop how I
felt, and he would yell at me to be a man, that it was like this
for all men, that he felt that way too! He said just grit your
teeth and be a man, 'cause it's somethin' to be proud of! 'Cause
it's so hard."

Akane was starting to get angry again, but not at Ranma. "Ranma,
have you ever tried talking to a man *other* than your father
about this?"

Ranma looked embarrassed. "Ummm, no... It's just too... private.
I always felt ashamed of it, even though Pop said it was normal."

"Ranma, I don't think it's normal at all. Maybe we need to go
talk to Dr. Tofu about this -- you trust him, don't you?" The
redhead nodded uncertainly. Akane sighed. "What were you saying
about the curse?"

Ranma looked terribly embarrassed, and ashamed. She looked at her
feet for a long time, and Akane waited patiently. "I... I ain't
never told no one this before. Not even Pop. It... it was hard
enough bein' a man before. But once I started turnin' into a
girl, and I really saw how much easier girls had it, it was even
harder. The curse... it... it..." Ranma mumbled something
inaudible and once again buried her face in her knees, trembling.

Akane was amazed. What could Ranma possibly be so ashamed of?
"What did you say, Ranma? What did the curse do?"

Ranma slowly raised her head, still not looking at Akane. "It
makes me feel like I wanna be a girl sometimes", she whispered,
"like I wanna stay that way." She turned away in shame.

Akane felt like she was tantalizingly close to understanding
something, but still couldn't quite grasp it. "How does the curse
make you think girls have it easy? What do you mean?"

Ranma looked back, her face still showing deep shame. "After I'd
had the curse a while, I started noticin' that when I was girl, I
was more... comfortable. It just didn't seem as hard as bein' a
guy; in some ways, it wasn't even hard at all. I knew about how
hard it is bein' a guy, though, so I understood that. But then...
then I started enjoyin' bein' a girl! I hated myself for bein'
weak, I was supposed to be a man, but it just felt like that was
what I wanted to be. I knew it hadda be the curse, tryin' to get
me to stay that way, so I fight it. No man should feel like that!
But it's so hard sometimes..." her voice trailed off to a whisper
again, and her eyes misted over.

Akane was starting to make connections, and was afraid of the
picture she was putting together. "Ranma, have you talked to
Mousse or Shampoo, or Tarou, about how they feel about their
curses? What makes you think that you feel that way because of
the curse?" Akane couldn't quite believe the blind spot Ranma was
displaying, but she was pretty sure she knew who was responsible
for Ranma's having it.

Ranma looked even more unhappy. "No... it's just too
embarrassin'. I didn't even tell Pop, I just couldn't. You're the
first person I ever told. I'm so... ashamed of it." She looked
downright miserable.

Suddenly, Akane had one brief, terrible moment of lucid insight,
and everything fell into place. She stared at Ranma, eyes wide,
shaking her head ever so slightly. Ranma looked confused.
"Akane?..."

Tears formed in Akane's eyes, and she squeezed them shut tightly.
She buried her face in her knees, hugging them to herself. Ranma
was starting to worry. "Akane? Akane, what's wrong? I..." Her
face fell. "You think it's sick, don'tcha?" She looked miserably
ashamed.

Akane looked up at Ranma. She really doesn't understand, does
she? thought Akane. Oh Kami-sama... the poor thing... all those
years... that... that... *monster*! If she doesn't kill him, I
will! The sudden expression of rage on Akane's face made Ranma
even more uneasy, and she shied back, expecting a mallet at any
moment. Akane shook herself; she couldn't tell Ranma her
thoughts. Ranma had to figure this out for herself, or she would
not understand or accept it. She said "It's... It's not your
fault, Ranma. I think... I think I just understand you a little
better, now." She took a deep breath and smiled. "I'm glad you
trusted me enough to share this with me." Akane thought for a
while. "Maybe later today, we can get some answers to some of
these questions."

Ranma looked nervous. "Q-questions? T-today?"

"About being a man. About the curse. Don't you want to know
more?"

The fearful, trapped look from last evening reappeared on Ranma's
face. "I... I dunno... It's so... so embarrassin'..." She looked
at her shoes again, blushing.

Akane sighed. "Ranma, this problem is not going to get resolved
unless you really make an effort to understand how *you* feel. It
sounds to me like you have some unanswered questions that need
answering." She looked at Ranma sympathetically. "You can't
really expect to solve this problem if you hide from it, can
you?" Ranma looked up at Akane, sheepishly shook her head, then
looked down again. "I guess the Saotome secret technique won't
work this time, huh?" They both laughed.

The rails on the bridge started to sing as another train
approached, and Akane looked at her watch. "Ohmigosh! We need to
get going or Auntie will be waiting for us." She stood up
quickly, and Ranma joined her.

Ranma smiled a tentative smile at Akane. "Thanks, Akane. I'm...
I'm glad you're willin' ta help."

Akane smiled back. "That's what best friends are for." As if
moved by the same thought, they turned for a last look at the
children across the canal. Akane noticed Ranma watching the girls
at play, an unreadable expression on her face. She moved to get
Ranma's attention...

Ranma was looking across the canal when she saw movement out of
the corner of her eye. Akane was holding out a hand in
invitation, fingers spread, a smile on her face and a slightly
mischievous look in her eye. Ranma stared at her for a moment,
then smiled back and took her hand. They turned and headed up the
bank, as the train began to clatter its way across the bridge.

*****

Nodoka sat by the window in the living room of her home, idly
wondering what was keeping the children. She had just finished
breakfast, and the miso soup, fish, and rice stood waiting on the
table. She was not impatient � yet.

She glanced once again up the narrow street on which her home
stood. It was a street of modest houses, crowded together and
with little yard space. Most, like Nodoka, made some effort to
cultivate some kind of garden in the little space they had, and
this lent each house a bit of personality. Nodoka liked the
neighborhood where she had lived for so many years. A nice
shopping street was a couple of blocks away, it was not far from
a train station, and the neighbors were all old friends.

She saw two girls, one with black hair and a shorter one with
red, walking up the street hand in hand and laughing about
something. They turned the corner through the gate, slid open the
front door and walked in, dropping their hands in the process.
Nodoka lifted an eyebrow but said nothing about what she had seen
through the window.

"Breakfast is ready, dears. You got back just in time. Shall we
eat?"

Ranma started to protest. "First I wanna go..." she trailed off.
"Ah, I can do it later. I'm starvin'!" They all sat down. Ranma
turned to her mother. "It looks great, Mom!" After a brief chorus
of "Itadakimasu!", they began. Nodoka once again witnessed the
spectacle of Ranma eating. After seeing that just once she had
known to prepare rather more food than usual, and stared as it
disappeared rapidly. She shook her head. This was one habit she
wanted her child to break, whether she was a boy *or* a girl. Now
was not the time, though.

She asked, "Ran...ma, dear, did you have a nice walk? What did
you need to think about?"

Ranma stopped eating, and looked slightly embarrassed. Her mind
spun as she tried to figure out what to say. Somehow, telling her
mother about what was going through her head right now did not
seem like a good idea, even if her mother would approve of it.
*Especially* if her mother would approve of it.

"Oh, just her situation, Auntie. Nothing special. She has a lot
of thinking to do." Akane answered for Ranma. Ranma looked at
Akane gratefully. "It's a confusing situation for her, and I
think it will take her a while to figure it out."

Nodoka had not missed the interchange, but decided not to press
Ranma into talking if she didn't want to. Goodness knows she
probably had a million things running around in her head right
now.

In due time, the meal was finished, and Akane and Ranma rose,
Akane helping to clear the dishes. When that was done, Ranma
turned to her mother. "Mom? Can we borrow, ummm, some of the
things you showed us last night? The video and the photos? We
wanna visit Dr. Tofu and explain, and also show this to the
Tendous. I promise we'll bring 'em back tomorrow on the way to
school." Ranma omitted the other places they might be going
today.

Nodoka was a little surprised, but the request seemed reasonable.
"Well, I had been hoping that you would stay a little bit longer
before going back to the Tendous this morning." She smiled. "But
I guess you're not going to disappear for another twelve years,
so I don't mind. I have some documents that you might find
useful, too." Akane and Ranma smiled back.

A few minutes later, their packs in hand, and with a flat
cardboard box from Nodoka, they prepared to leave. "Thank you for
your hospitality Auntie. I hope to be able to come again?..."
Nodoka smiled. "Akane, you are always welcome here any time you
wish. You and Ranko were like sisters when you were little."
Ranma winced, but said "Thanks, Mom! I promise you'll be seein' a
lot more 'a me!" They turned and left, Nodoka sliding the door
shut behind them.

No one noticed that Ranma had forgotten to get hot water after
breakfast.

Ranma and Akane walked along one of the larger streets in Nerima.
Auto traffic was sparse, but the area was abustle with
pedestrians, people shopping or just enjoying the Sunday morning.
Women doing the daily shopping walked from shop to shop, bags in
hand, accompanied by children. Some rode by on bicycles. Groups
of men in twos or threes would wander past, laughing or talking
in an animated way. The occasional jogger would trot by every now
and then. People were trying to get their business done before
the day got really hot.

Ranma looked at Akane again. "Are you sure this is a good idea,
Akane?"

Akane glanced over at Ranma. "I know they are hard to deal with,
Ranma, but she knows more about the curses than anyone else we
know. She has lived next to Jusenkyou for over a hundred years."

Ranma sighed. She hated every time she had to deal with the old
ghoul and the others at the Nekohanten. They were crazy. Half the
people she knew were crazy. It was depressing sometimes. Besides,
she wasn't sure she really wanted answers to some of these
questions.

They passed a shopkeeper. "Good morning, ladies! Would you like
any fruit today?"

As Akane politely declined, Ranma looked surprised, then
chagrined. "Ah, nuts! I wanted to change back before we left."

Akane stopped and looked at Ranma. "Do you want to look for some
hot water now?"

Ranma thought for a moment. "We're almost at the N-nekohanten.
Let's just ask them for some."

*****

Sun streamed in the windows of the Nekohanten, as Shampoo went
about cleaning the tables in preparation for another day. She
sighed; it was a beautiful day out. Why did she have to work when
all the other teenagers got to relax on the weekends? She did
enjoy the work, but it was so omnipresent; a break would be nice
now and then. As she went from table to table lifting up soy
sauce and napkin dispensers to polish underneath, she reflected
that at least it was air conditioned, for the customers of
course. That would be a blessing during the full heat of the day.
Still...

Shampoo looked up from her work as the chime rang, signaling a
customer. That was odd, it was a little early yet for the lunch
crowd. She hurried towards the door. "Welcome to Nekohanten,
what... Oh, Airen! You come take Shampoo on date?" She rushed
over to glomp Ranma, ignoring that she was in her female form.
Ranma began to struggle as she always did, but then just stopped,
looking at Shampoo in an odd way, as if seeing her for the first
time.

Shampoo was so startled she stopped herself. Rather than Ranma's
usual struggles, and Akane's angry reaction, both of which made
it so much more fun, Ranma and Akane were just looking at her,
eyes a little wide. They both looked as if they were trying to
figure something out. It rattled her no end.

She tried to gather her wits. "Airen... come here for reason?"

The strange mood dissipated. Ranma looked down. "Yeah, Shampoo.
We wanna talk to the old... umm, to Cologne."

Cologne sighed and put down the chopstick she had been aiming.
Why couldn't she just have said it like she always did? Just like
Ranma to spoil her fun by not playing the game. She hopped into
the dining area on her stick.

"What is it, Son-in-law? What did you want to talk about?" As she
came up to him, her senses were alerted. Something about
Son-in-law was different. He... She seemed... disturbed about
something, and the usual cocky confidence was missing.

Ranma started studying the floor again. Linoleum tile. She was
getting to be quite familiar with floors, and imagined at this
rate she would soon be able to go into the flooring business. She
sighed, and lifted her head. "I... I got some questions I wanna
ask ya. A-About Jusenkyou curses."

Cologne raised an eyebrow. This seemed to be odd behavior on
Ranma's part. Mousse, who had been working in the kitchen, also
wandered in and watched, or at least tried to.

Cologne said, "Perhaps we should all sit down," and motioned
towards one of the tables. Akane and Ranma sat on one side, and
Cologne and Shampoo on the other. Mousse pulled up a chair,
facing the storeroom.

"Now, Son-in-law, what questions do you want to ask?" Mousse
noted he was facing the wrong direction, and turned his chair to
face the wall.

Ranma became visibly more nervous, and Cologne had to remind
herself that despite the martial arts prowess of Ranma and the
others, they were all still just teenagers after all. Sometimes
they would be vulnerable or emotionally confused. She turned one
part of her mind to wondering how to exploit this, while turning
the rest of her attention back to Ranma.

Ranma swallowed nervously. "Ummmm... I... I want to know if... if
the curses... affect the way the cursed person, uh, feels..." She
blushed and lowered her face again. Akane reached her hand over
and took Ranma's hand, holding it supportively. Ranma smiled back
at Akane in thanks.

Cologne noticed Shampoo scowling out of the corner of her eye.
What was the meaning of this? The usual tension between Ranma and
Akane appeared to be absent. This was bad. Something was going
on, and she was going to get to the bottom of it. If Son-in-law
and Akane were progressing in their relationship, it had to be
stopped.

"What do you mean, Son-in-law? How the cursed person feels? I
don't quite follow you."

Ranma blushed again. Kami-sama, but this was hard. "I... I mean
about their cursed form."

Cologne could not figure out where this was going; usually she
could read Ranma like a book. "Well, typically people resent the
curse. Sometimes they find it useful. Eventually, they get used
to it..." Cologne trailed off as she noticed Ranma looking at her
with wide eyes.

"You... you mean... the curse doesn't make people like their
cursed form?"

Warning signals started going off in Cologne's head, but she
wasn't quite sure why; it was just her intuition, after so many
years of life. She noticed Shampoo lean forward as if to hear
better. Mousse, uncharacteristically, had put on his glasses, and
was watching the conversation intently, finally facing the right
way.

Ranma turned to Shampoo. "Shampoo... when... when you're a
c-c-cat, do you feel... don't you feel like you wanna... stay
that way? Like... like it's easier, and more comfortable?"

Shampoo's anger was turning into confusion. "Cursed form very
useful sometimes, but not really like. Shampoo rather be girl
than cat." Mousse added, unbidden, "I have to say the same thing,
Saotome. The curse is an advantage to use against an opponent,
but I much prefer my human form." He frowned. "What is it you're
implying?"

Ranma looked like she was in shock, upset, and deathly afraid of
something. The volume of the warning signals in Cologne's head
increased. It was time to get to the heart of the matter.

"What is going on here, Son-in-law? Why are you asking these
questions? I can tell that there is something you two are not
telling me." She spoke calmly, but Ranma could see the
determination in her gaze.

Cologne didn't think she'd ever seen Ranma this scared before.
She look terrified, as if facing execution. Her face lowered
again, and Cologne was shocked to see tears starting to gather in
Ranma's eyes. Shampoo and Mousse looked on, speechless. What on
Earth was going on here?

Ranma started hugging herself, and Akane moved over and put an
arm around her, giving her a gentle embrace. Ranma shuddered and
took a deep breath, and Shampoo and Mousse felt much like doing
the same thing. Cologne had the feeling that the world had
changed, that the rules were not being followed, in fact the
rules were being rewritten. Had they woken up in some parallel
universe this morning?

Cologne pressed Ranma. "Well, Son-in-law?"

Akane said gently, "Ranma, you are going to have to tell them
about your mother, and about... what you found out from her.
They're going to find out eventually anyway." Ranma shuddered
again, but nodded, her head still hung low. Cologne was astounded
to see the distress that Ranma was in. She felt like she had
never met the person in front of her before. Was this really
Ranma who sat before them? The strong, macho man who took on any
martial arts challenge? Mousse, too, shook his head in wonder.
Was this the man he had fought so many times?

Ranma lifted her eyes to look at Cologne, whose shock was
compounded to see that they were wet. "Cologne... I... I just met
my mom again for the first time since I was a little... kid. I
was really happy ta see her, and she was really happy ta see me,
too. But... she... she told me somethin' about myself that...
that is kinda turnin' my life upside down and makin' me all
confused. She... she told me that... told me that..." Ranma lost
the ability to speak. How could she reveal all this to the three
people in front of her, when she had only just summoned the
courage to tell it to her closest friend? People who were always
striving not to help her, but to find and exploit her weaknesses?
But she had to.

Shampoo and Mousse were hanging on the edge of their seats.
Cologne examined Ranma closely, and realized she was struggling,
as mightily as if she were fighting one of her most desperate
battles. She surprised herself by gently encouraging Ranma, "She
told you what?"

Ranma took a deep breath, and looked at Akane. Akane smiled, and
nodded her head slightly, as if to say "I'm here. I'll always be
here." Ranma looked back at Cologne, and in a very small voice
said, "She... she told me that I'm a girl." Having made the
supreme effort, Ranma hung her head once again in misery.

Cologne, Shampoo, and Mousse looked on in stunned silence for
several moments, then to Ranma's surprise, they erupted into
laughter. "Oh come now, Son-in-law, what kind of fool do you take
me for? I suppose you're going to tell us now that you can't
marry Shampoo? How transparent! You've tried this once already.
What proof do you have for this ludicrous story?"

Cologne was surprised to see Ranma looking upset and hurt. She
hadn't thought Ranma was this good an actor. She started to
wonder; she *knew* Ranma wasn't this good an actor.

Akane, wordlessly, reached down to the seat next to her, and
placed a small cardboard box on the table. While Cologne,
Shampoo, and Mousse looked on with rapt attention, she removed
the lid, lifted a handful of documents and photographs from
inside, and placed them on the table in front of Cologne. Shampoo
scooted her chair over to get a better look, and Mousse looked
over Cologne's shoulder. They all peered at what lay on the
table.

On top of the pile was an aging photograph; a simple family
portrait. In it was a younger version of Genma, whom Cologne knew
well. Standing next to him was a young woman who looked like
Ranma's female form, whom Cologne took to be Ranma's mother. And
standing in front of them...

Standing in front of them was the four-year-old version of the
red-headed girl who was sitting in front of Cologne and the
others right now. She was wearing a green sundress, and her red
hair was in a ponytail, held by a pretty ornament. She had an
adorable smile on her face, and clung shyly to her mother.

She turned the photograph over; it was dated July 3, 1987. She
turned her attention to the document underneath it. Her control
slipped for a moment, and the blood drained from her face.
Shampoo gave a little gasp. Mousse looked on, shock written
plainly on his face. The document was an official copy, and bore
the appropriate seals. It looked to be many years old.

Certified Copy, Certificate of Live Birth
City of Tokyo, Nerima Ward

Place of Birth: Nerima General Hospital
Father's name: Saotome Genma
Mother's name: Saotome Nodoka
Date of birth: March 18, 1983
Child's name: Saotome Ranko
Sex: Female

For a moment she thought it was possible the document might be a
forgery, as she knew the middle Tendou sister was... talented,
but as she leafed through the documents and photographs, some
showing Ranko-chan with a same-age Akane, she knew that there
were too many of them for anyone to concoct. She felt a numbness
come over her. The rules of the game had indeed changed,
drastically; all bets were off. She raised her head and looked at
Ranma again, whose head was still hung down.

"And how can you explain this? After all, your female form is
your cursed form."

Ranma looked up again, still looking nervous and fearful. Akane's
arm was still around her shoulders, giving her strength. She
would never have thought she would need anyone else's strength,
until the last few days. "Pop... wanted a son. He... he took me
to Happosai not long after that family picture was taken, and...
and... Happosai... turned me into a boy. When I fell in the
Nyannichuan, it made my cursed form... me." She swallowed. "The
real me."

Cologne let out a long sigh. Of course, the old freak would be
involved. How typical for him to be responsible for this. Shampoo
was still staring at the birth certificate, looking back and
forth between it and Ranma, who looked like she was ready to cry.
Mousse was staring at Ranma; he didn't want to be that rude, but
he couldn't help it. His rival for Shampoo's affections, the best
martial artist he knew, was really a *girl*? Cologne scrutinized
the red-haired girl in front of her as if seeing her for the
first time; in a sense, she was. Ranma felt very uncomfortable
under their combined gaze.

"And what of your engagement to the Tendous?"

Ranma looked at Akane again, who smiled and nodded again, a
little sadly. "My mom... she said... she said that there was no
way she was gonna let her... d-daughter marry another girl. She
said all the engagements are off -- Akane included."

That was enough for Shampoo, who put her head in her hands and
started sobbing quietly, while Ranma looked on, miserable. Mousse
put his hands on Shampoo's shoulders to comfort her, and for once
she didn't object; he kept his eyes on Ranma. Cologne nodded; of
course the mother would say that, and a mother's word was
sacrosanct. "And what do you intend to do? Are you going to
remain male or resume your life as Ranko?"

At this Ranma looked even more fearful and uncertain, if that was
possible. "I... I dunno. I... I'm still tryin' to figure out how
I feel about all this stuff. I only found out a couple days ago
myself. I... I..." Ranma trailed off.

Cologne leaned forward and pierced Ranma with her gaze. The force
of decades of wisdom and experience were behind it. Ranma gulped;
she couldn't take her eyes off Cologne. "And the questions about
Jusenkyou curses? Why did you ask?" Cologne was pretty sure she
knew, but she had to make sure.

Ranma looked like a deer caught in headlights. She shifted
uneasily in her seat. She wanted to take her eyes off Cologne, to
look somewhere else, the floor, the table, the bottle of soy
sauce sitting on the table, anywhere but Cologne, but she
couldn't. Shampoo looked up, red-eyed; she and Mousse hung on
Ranma's answer. Ranma swallowed again. "I... I wanted to see... I
wanted to see if the feelin's I was havin' were... were the curse
or... or..." she finally broke her gaze away and looked down, her
voice dropping to a whisper. "or... me."

Cologne leaned back in her chair, and sighed. All those months,
all that planning... the child had finally defeated her, and the
biggest joke was, she didn't even realize it. Cologne didn't know
whether to laugh or cry. She happened to glance at Akane. Akane
looked back, and smiled a sad smile. So, the Tendou girl was more
perceptive than she had thought. She'd figured it out even though
Son... Ranma hadn't.

Cologne mercifully didn't pursue her line of questioning. "Very
well, Ranma. We shall wait and see how things develop." Her tone
softened. "Should you need any assistance in resolving this...
crisis, please come and see me. I will try to help."

Ranma looked at Cologne, astonished. Of all the reactions she had
been expecting, this was not one she had ever thought she would
hear. Shampoo broke off her quiet crying and also looked at
Cologne, dumbfounded. Cologne continued to gaze back at Ranma,
her face serious but calm.

"Th-thanks, Cologne. I... I really appreciate it. I... Th-thank
you." Ranma said earnestly.

Cologne turned to Akane. "And what are your feelings on this,
Akane?" Akane was surprised as well; Cologne rarely addressed her
by name, or asked her feelings on anything. "Well, as you can
tell from the pictures, Ranko... Ranma and I were very close
friends when we were little. I... I think I knew that, even when
she first showed up, even though I didn't recognize her as my
childhood playmate. I want to help Ranma through this." She
smiled. "She is still my friend; my best friend. Her mother said
we were like sisters back then." Ranma smiled back, a little
nervously.

Cologne nodded; it was becoming clearer why the two were so
devoted to each other while never acting like proper fiancees. "I
see. My offer to Ranma applies to you as well, Akane. Should you
need help in this, I stand willing to assist you." Shampoo looked
like she was ready to pass out from shock. Even Mousse looked
surprised.

Akane stood, and tugged gently at Ranma's arm. "Come on, Ranma.
We should get going. We still need to visit Dr. Tofu." Ranma
nodded, and got up. Akane collected the documents and
photographs, carefully returned them to the box, then closed it
and tucked it under her arm. Ranma turned to Cologne and bowed
respectfully, and Akane followed suit. "Thanks, Cologne. I... I
guess I wasn't expectin' help when I came here." She looked
embarrassed. "Thank you. I really mean it."

Cologne rose. "You are welcome, Ranma. I have no doubt that
someone of your abilities will be able to resolve this
situation." Ranma nodded, and turned towards the door.

"Ranma?" asked Akane. Ranma stopped and turned back with a
questioning look. "Didn't you want some hot water?" Ranma looked
surprised, then vexed. "Oh. Oh, yeah. Hey Cologne, ummm, could I
get some hot water?" Cologne nodded, then looked at Mousse, who
moved to the kitchen, returning with a kettle, which he handed to
Ranma. Ranma took it and a few moments later was male again, if
damp. He handed the kettle back to Mousse, thanked him, and he
and Akane were on their way.

Cologne watched the back of the black-haired phantom she had been
chasing for so many months as he walked out the door, and sighed
once more.

Shampoo quickly turned to Cologne, and switched to speaking in
Mandarin. <Great-grandmother, what about the engagement? Is it
really over?> she asked, clearly upset. Cologne stood up. <Of
course it is, Shampoo! Ranma is legally female, and... his mother
is absolutely correct. By Amazon law as well, you may not marry
another woman. It is perhaps an unfair and outdated rule, but it
is the law. Do you in fact wish to marry another woman?> Shampoo
looked crushed, and sat down again, shaking her head slowly. She
did not notice the look of joy spreading across Mousse's face;
fortunately, he managed to keep his thoughts to himself for once.
She mulled over her feelings for Ranma, all the work she had put
into catching him as her mate. All wasted; she sighed. She cared
for him... her, but not enough to put her laws aside, or her own
preference for men. After all, the whole pursuit had been for the
sake of the tribe. Suddenly she had a horrible thought, and
turned anxiously back to Cologne, clearly agitated.
<Great-grandmother, if the Kiss of Marriage is null and void,
then... then what about... the Kiss of Death?> She looked
terribly afraid. So did Mousse, though Shampoo didn't notice.

<You may put your mind at ease, child. You may not kill Ranma,
either.>

Shampoo looked relieved, but astonished. <I... but why? Why don't
I have to kill Ranma? Why is it actually forbidden?>

Cologne looked vexed. <Child, you are an heir to leadership.
Surely you know why our tribe was founded? What is the principle
on which our Amazon society rests?>

Shampoo thought for a moment; then her eyes widened. <The
Amazon... must protect downtrodden, abused women. Any woman who
is victimized by men. It is our sacred duty.> She looked back to
Cologne, who nodded. Mousse also nodded in understanding.

<The Kiss of Death and the marriage laws merely deal with our
interactions with outsiders. But the principle of protecting
victimized women is the principle on which our culture is
founded. It must take precedence.>

Shampoo nodded, slowly, thoughtfully. <Does... does this mean we
are returning to Joketsuzoku?> Shampoo realized she had grown to
like it here in Tokyo. It would be sad for her to leave everyone
-- especially Ranma.

<Not yet. I suspect this will be very trying for Ranma. I would
like to watch over... her. Besides, there is the *other*
application of our founding principle.>

Shampoo finally smiled through her sadness, a small, wicked
smile. She recited, <Those who victimize innocent women must be
punished.> She paused, then added, <A four year old girl is about
as innocent as can be, don't you think?> Cologne smiled back. It
was not a nice smile.

*****

The sun was ascending rapidly, and Ranma was actually glad he was
wet. The evaporation made it a kind of natural air conditioning,
and helped ward off the stifling heat of summer. He sighed; it
wouldn't last long.

He and Akane were taking a short break at the park on their walk
to Dr. Tofu's. A short spell under the shade of a tree was just
the thing for Akane, who did not have the benefit of being wet.
Ranma was also grateful for the break. The unending stream of
revelations about himself, about his curse, about his identity,
about his feelings, was simply overwhelming him. It was almost
like it was happening to someone else, and he was just watching.

Even in the heat of the day, there were still children playing at
the park, though their running seemed a little less energetic
than usual. As hot as it was, some homes were hotter still
inside, and it was good to get out. Air conditioning was
spreading rapidly but still was not universal. Akane and Ranma
sat, and watched the world go by.

"Ranma, what do you think? About what Cologne said about the
curses?" Akane turned her head to look at him.

Ranma continued staring off into the distance. "Maybe... maybe it
only happens with human-form curses?..."

Akane sighed. "Do you really believe that?"

Ranma didn't move. After a long time, he finally said, in a quiet
voice, "No. Not really." His face became angry. "Why? Why me?
This can't be happening to me! It just can't! I... I've lived so
long as a guy, I *am* a guy! I'm Ranma Saotome, man amongst men,
the best martial artist in Japan! I know who I am!" His voice
dropped again, his anger dissipating suddenly, and a bewildered
expression appeared in his eyes. "At least... at least I thought
I did."

Ranma's eyes were looking in the general direction of the
playground, but Akane knew he was seeing something else.
"Girls... girls are weak, and stupid, and waste time on all
sorts'a dumb stuff... but... but... I..." He lowered his head and
put his hand across his eyes. "No. I... I can't!"

Akane found Ranma's usual misogyny surprisingly easy to tolerate
these days, knowing now where it was coming from. Besides, she
fully intended to punish the real source. She wondered what kind
of wall ornament a panda hide might make.

After a few more minutes of silence, as Akane watched Ranma lost
in his thoughts, she tugged gently at his sleeve. "Come on,
Ranma. I'm sure Dr. Tofu can help. You know he does counseling
too, along with all his medical work." She wiped her arm across
the sweat beaded on her brow. "Besides, the clinic is air
conditioned!"

*****

Dr. Tofu leaned back in his chair, removed his glasses, and began
to polish them with a cloth he kept on his desk. In the
background, the clinic air conditioner thrummed, laboring
mightily to keep the clinic cool in the face of the blast furnace
outside. Behind the blinds on the windows, the intense light
flared, as if the heat were trying to break its way in.

On the other side of his desk were Ranma and Akane, and on the
desk lay the same set of documents that Akane had displayed at
the Nekohanten. He replaced his glasses, trying to keep his
expression neutral, but couldn't help sighing. He was worried
about Ranma's ability to cope with this. He had always thought
that Ranma's intense focus on martial arts had left him a
somewhat one-dimensional individual, without a full range of
interests, friends, and activities. Ranma's lack of a
well-rounded personality might cause him even more difficulty in
working through this challenge to his identity. Dr. Tofu
suspected that that intense focus was a direct result of the
trauma that had happened to Ranma -- Ranko -- as a child.

"Ranma, I'm truly sorry to hear that your father did such a
terrible thing to you. I can't imagine why a father would do
something like this to his child, no matter how much he may have
wanted a son." Dr. Tofu's voice took on a hard edge. "I must have
a word with Mr. Saotome when he reappears."

Akane added, "You and me both, Doctor."

Ranma listened silently to all of this. He took a deep breath, as
he prepared to talk about his innermost feelings for the third
time today. At least it was getting a little easier. He wondered
if he would ever be able to regain the stoicism he had had before
this crisis... or if he even wanted to.

"Doc... this... this ain't all I wanted to talk to you about."

Dr. Tofu's eyebrow raised. "I can't say I'm surprised. What else
did you want to discuss? I'll try to help, if I can."

Ranma looked at Akane again, and once more drew strength from the
quiet smile he found there. Maybe one good thing about this whole
situation was that it seemed that the bad parts of their
relationship were sloughing off, disappearing, leaving something
wonderfully solid behind. "I... even before I found this out,
I... I had some feelings... about... about bein' a guy." He
swallowed nervously. "Akane says I oughta talk 'em over with
you."

Dr. Tofu gently encouraged him. "Yes, Ranma? Go ahead."

Ranma paused. "Uh, well, uh... I... I told Akane that the reason
I was proud'a bein' a guy was... I told her that bein' a guy was
much harder than bein' a girl, that it was hard to be manly in
all things, the way Pop always said I should be. I... I had told
Pop about how hard it was, and he said that's why we can be proud
we're men, 'cause it's tough. Akane said, ummm, she... she wasn't
sure that... that feelin' that way was normal?" Ranma looked at
Dr. Tofu, a plea for contradiction in his eyes.

Dr. Tofu paused for a long moment, as if considering Ranma's
words very carefully. "Ranma, I have to agree with Akane. I don't
think it's normal at all. Most people are quite comfortable with
either being a man or a woman. I certainly don't feel that being
a man is hard. I am glad I am a man, and so are most other men."

Ranma's head was buzzing, and he once more looked down. At least
he couldn't see the floor, thanks to Dr. Tofu's desk. He was
getting tired of floors. He had been expecting this answer, but
that didn't make him any happier to hear it.

"What about your cursed form, or should I say your true form,
Ranma? How do you feel about that?"

Akane and Ranma exchanged quick, surprised glances. It seemed
that Dr. Tofu had some understanding of how Ranma felt, even
though he hadn't heard the full story yet. Ranma felt better
about talking to Dr. Tofu; it seemed as if it might be something
he was familiar with.

"Well, one of the first things I noticed after gettin' cursed
was... was how much easier it felt. It didn't feel hard at all,
not like bein' a man was. And... after a while... I... I started
to like it... and I felt like... like I wanted to stay that
way... and... like I *should* stay that way. I thought it was the
curse makin' me feel like that, but... but we talked to Cologne,
and she says... she says it don't work that way." Again he looked
Dr. Tofu in the eye, his gaze questioning, hoping to be rescued
from the corner he felt himself being backed into.

Dr. Tofu sighed. "Cologne is quite right, Ranma. The curse
usually causes discomfort, not comfort and happiness. If you are
having those feelings, they are because of the way you feel, not
because of the curse."

Ranma closed his eyes. He had been afraid this would be the
answer, afraid this was the direction things were heading; he had
just hoped he was wrong. He opened his eyes again. "But why? Why
should I feel this way? I'm a man! I'm proud'a bein' a man! I
know I was a girl when I was little, but that don't matter any
more! It was years ago!"

Dr. Tofu shook his head. "It matters a lot, Ranma. You were born
a normal girl, and you spent the first four years or so of your
life as a girl. Those are very formative years, and you cannot
shake off their influence, no matter how many years pass." He
looked Ranma directly in the eye. "Ranma, I think the reason you
feel uncomfortable about being a boy, and have feelings of
wanting to be a girl and finding life easier that way, may well
be because you *are* a girl. You may have been raised as a boy,
you may think of yourself as a boy and act like one, but there
are many fundamental differences between boys and girls and you
can't just grow out of them. Having a normal male body and a
normal male brain thanks to Happosai's magic probably helps mask
that somewhat, but the influence of your early years is still
there. And when you regained your female form, the feelings would
be amplified."

Ranma stared back at Dr. Tofu. "Are... are you sure about that? I
barely remember bein' a girl!"

Dr. Tofu nodded. "Look at Ukyou, Ranma. She has been raised as a
boy almost from the same age. Granted, she has always had her
female body, but despite all those years of her father pressuring
her to be more masculine, she's still a girl, and she still wants
to be a girl. Does she like living her life as a boy?" Ranma
shook his head. "Ranma, you are in a similar situation. When you
are in female form, you are in exactly the same situation."

Fear blossomed again in Ranma's eyes. He looked at Dr. Tofu as if
he were Death incarnate, come to take Ranma's life away, and
replace it with... who knows what. "But... but Doc... are you
sayin' that I oughta be a girl? Just 'cause I used to be one when
I was little? I... I don't think I can do that!" Sweat broke out
on his forehead, despite the air conditioning in the clinic.

Dr. Tofu shook his head. "Ranma, the thing you need to do is to
decide how to live your life so you will be *happy* and well
adjusted, so you can live a meaningful, full life. Only you can
decide how to do that. Given your history, there may well be
problems for you either way. All I am trying to do is make sure
you consider all your options." Ranma was speechless as he
considered the doctor's words.

Akane turned to Ranma. "Ranma, are you happy?"

Ranma looked at her in surprise. "Wh-what?"

"Are you happy? Do you enjoy life? Do you like who and what you
are, are you comfortable with yourself? Do you like what you do
every day? Do you have friends who like you for who you are?
Everyone needs these things to be happy."

Ranma's eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open. Such a simple
question. "No..." he whispered in reply.

"Do you like being a boy? Never mind being proud of it, never
mind how noble you think it is, never mind what your father
wanted. Do *you* *like* it? Are you glad you are a boy, the way
Dr. Tofu says he is glad he is a man? The way I am glad I am a
girl?"

Ranma had a haunted look in his eyes, and tears started to
collect in the corners. "No..." he whispered again.

Akane turned to Dr. Tofu again, with pleading in her gaze of a
different sort. Dr. Tofu nodded slightly, and spoke.

"Ranma, have you seriously thought about becoming Ranko again,
being a girl?"

Ranma was silent for several minutes. Dr. Tofu and Akane watched
and waited, patiently. Akane couldn't imagine what Ranma must be
feeling right now. She felt like crying for him.

Ranma finally spoke. "Yes... Yes, I thought about it... but..."
he trailed off.

Dr. Tofu again gently encouraged him to continue. "But what,
Ranma? What bothers you about it?"

Ranma thought. "Well, Pop always said girls were stupid, and
weak, and just got in men's way." He looked at Akane. "I guess...
I guess since he lied about so much, he... he probably lied about
that, too." Akane smiled. "But... but I thought that way for so
long, I... I dunno if I can shake that off. I can't be a girl if
I look down on girls. How can I be happy that way?"

Dr. Tofu smiled. "That's very perceptive of you Ranma. You *have*
thought about this." He sat back in his chair. "Were there other
things?"

Ranma dropped his eyes again. "Yes..." he whispered. Dr. Tofu
didn't press, giving Ranma the time he needed to gather his
words. Ranma had never said these words prior to the last few
days; he had been ashamed to ever utter them. But considering the
maelstrom he was engulfed in, he thought... it was probably
natural. He hated to admit it, but it was true.

"I'm... I'm scared." He swallowed again. "I'm scared about bein'
a girl. I... I don't really know what it's like, even though I
pretended a few times. I don't know if I'll like it. I'm afraid
everyone I know will make fun of me, that I won't have any
friends." Fear showed itself in Ranma's eyes. "What if I become a
girl, and it's worse? What could I do then?" He shrank into his
chair, his eyes dropping again. Akane scooted over and once more
put her arm around him. He let out a sigh; he never would have
imagined that could be so comforting.

Dr. Tofu thought for a few moments. "Ranma, summer break is
coming up, isn't it? School will be out for four weeks after this
week, won't it?"

Ranma looked up. "Uh, yeah, but..." What was Tofu getting at?

"You'll have four weeks where you won't have to interact much
with your schoolmates. Why not try spending it as Ranko? Stay
away from the usual places you go, try going other places, and
you won't run into people you know. Even if you do, you've posed
as a girl before, so they'll think you're just doing it again for
some reason. Spend four weeks as Ranko, and see how you feel
about it, see how it goes. If you don't like it, we can talk more
about what else you could do. If you do like it, you can try
going to school that way and see how that feels."

Ranma shook his head. "I can't ever imagine goin' to school as a
girl! What'll everyone say?"

Dr. Tofu shook his head. "Don't worry about it now. If you like
being Ranko, if you decide you want to stay that way, then I am
sure we can work something out. I'll talk it over with you when
and if that happens."

Ranma was lost in thought. "I... I still dunno if I can do
this..."

Dr. Tofu smiled. "Just think about it. No one is going to force
you to do something you don't want to do. This is all about what
you want and what makes you happy. Again, I'm just trying to get
you to consider all the options, and not make assumptions based
on what your father taught you. It's not his life we're
discussing here." Ranma nodded slowly. Akane added under her
breath, "That's what *you* think." 

"And Ranma?"

Ranma gave his full attention to Dr. Tofu. "What, Doc?"

"Try to work on overcoming some of that anti-female propaganda
your father pumped you full of. You're absolutely right, it would
make it hard for you to be happy as a girl. Actually, it's a
liability even if you stay a man; it would make it nearly
impossible to relate to women well." He gave a meaningful glance
towards Akane, and Ranma blushed slightly. "You will have to make
an active effort to overcome your father's influence if you want
to have the best chance at finding happiness." Ranma nodded his
head again, with some confidence this time. "You're... you're
right, Doc." He smiled. "Thanks. I... I never expected talkin'
about this could help so much. I... I really appreciate it."

Dr. Tofu gave both of them a warm smile. "You're very welcome,
Ranma. I hope that this helps you to be happier than you are
right now, no matter what you decide. Now, if you'll excuse me, I
think I have a patient waiting. I hope you don't mind if I kick
the two of you out?" He grinned, and Ranma and Akane grinned as
well. Ranma felt better about this whole mess than he had since
it started. Having Akane and Dr. Tofu on his side made him feel
like maybe this challenge could be met, after all.

With the documents once more tucked away in the cardboard box
under Akane's arm, she and Ranma left the clinic, leaving Dr.
Tofu behind, deep in thought. He didn't remember to call in his
next patient for several minutes.

*****

The children were definitely flagging in the heat as Ranma and
Akane detoured through the park on the way home to the Tendou
Dojo. Ranma, feeling a bit overwhelmed by airing his innermost
secrets to so many people that day, wanted to take a break before
repeating the process with the Tendous.

They had been lucky to find a bench in the shade, next to a small
fountain. Ranma eyed the fountain warily, but decided there was
no way the water could reach that far. They spent several minutes
watching the few hardy souls who still tried to be active in the
midafternoon heat. There were a few children left; it was not
clear how they avoided collapsing from the heat. Every now and
then a runner would jog past, perspiring profusely, their clothes
drenched. Once, an elderly gentleman came walking by with his
cane, immaculately dressed in a suit. He nodded his head as he
passed Ranma and Akane, and the ghost of a smile passed his lips.

Ranma was oblivious to all of this; he was far, far away. Akane
studied his face. Right now he looked as male as ever, but Akane
wondered what had been going on in Ranma's head the whole time
she had known him. She had thought he was a macho jerk,
insensitive, hardly ever opening his mouth except to put his foot
in it. But this was a facade, Akane knew. She still remembered
the day they met, when Akane had thought Ranma was a somewhat shy
but friendly girl. That image had been shattered in the bath that
night. For a long time Akane had been furious at the perceived
deception, but every now and then a different person had peeked
out from behind the bravado, a person not unlike the person she
had thought she met; moreso in the last few days. Who was Ranma,
really? Akane had seen vulnerability in Ranma since this whole
affair started. Was it new, or had it been there all along,
hidden away? She wondered what person would be revealed when all
was said and done. She was pretty sure that, male or female, it
would not be the same Ranma she had known. She prayed that person
would be happy.

She waved her hand in front of his face. "Hello! Earth to Ranma."

Ranma started, then grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Akane. I... I
guess I got a lot to think about these days..."

"Have you reached any conclusions?"

Ranma drooped a little. "Nope. I'm still goin' round in circles."

Akane frowned. "Ranma, are you seriously considering Dr. Tofu's
idea? About trying out life as Ranko?"

Ranma looked sad. "Yeah, well, I guess so, but I still don't
think it's gonna work out. I mean, how could someone like me
enjoy livin' as a girl? Can you see me wearin' dresses, and goin'
shoppin', and gigglin'?"

Akane shook her head. "Ranma, is that what you think life as a
girl is about?"

Ranma looked pensive. "I... I guess I dunno, do I? What life as a
girl is like." He looked off into the distance again.

"Why are you so hesitant about trying it, Ranma? What is
bothering you?"

Ranma snapped, "Why are you so anxious for me to try it?"

Akane held her temper with some effort. Ranma was lashing out
because he was upset. She could not keep a little fire out of her
voice, though. "Ranma, if you had said you hated being a girl and
loved being a boy, we wouldn't be having this conversation. No
matter who you were when you were born, of course you'd live as a
boy if you felt that way. But that's not how you feel, is it? You
said you don't like being a boy, that it makes you unhappy. You
said that you feel comfortable as a girl. I don't understand why
you're so reluctant to try it when it sounds like it will make
you happy! I don't like seeing you unhappy..."

Ranma turned to look at Akane, and held her gaze for a few
moments. Akane saw the uncertainty and fear there. "'Cause if I
become a girl I won't be me any more! I'll be someone else, a
different person. That's scary, Akane!"

Akane didn't have an easy answer to that.

They both stared at the scenery for a few minutes. A flock of
birds, apparently unfazed by the heat, landed on the edge of the
fountain and began to take advantage of the cool water.

Akane turned back to Ranma. "Ranma, I... I know it's scary. But,
do you really want to be unhappy for the rest of your life for
the sake of staying the person you are now? Is it worth it? I am
*not* anxious for you to become a girl. I am anxious for you to
be happy. You've already said you aren't. I don't know if being a
girl will make you happy or not, Ranma, but are you willing to
write that option off without even trying it? Suppose that's the
only way you'll be happy?" Akane looked close to tears.

Ranma looked contrite. "You're... you're right, Akane. I... I'm
thinkin' about it. It just scares the pants off me..." Ranma
trailed off while looking at Akane, who was giggling. "What'd I
say?"

Between giggles, Akane said "Scares the pants off you?"

Ranma started chuckling himself. "I guess I didn't mean it
that..."

Suddenly, there was the sound of young feet running full tilt
down the path. A boyish form went flying through the air,
accompanied by an incoherent yell of joy; birds scattered every
which way in a blind panic, chittering angrily at the rude
interruption, and a gusher of water erupted as the small body
landed in the fountain.

A woman in her twenties came running down the path moments later.
"Aki? Aki, how many times have I told you not to do that! Look
what you did to this poor girl!"

The woman turned to the drenched redhead sitting on the bench,
wondering briefly why her friend was laughing uncontrollably, and
was also curiously dry. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss. Are you all
right?"

"Oh," said Ranma in a flat voice, "Oh yes. I am just fine, thank
you."

Akane erupted into another laughing fit, and Ranma couldn't help
but smile.

*****

It was getting on towards dinner time at the Tendou Dojo,
although the sun was far from the horizon. The first hint of a
cooling off was starting to be felt. Kasumi was working on
dinner, and wondering where Akane and Ranma were; she had
expected them long ago based on Auntie Saotome's phone call.

Nabiki was out, no doubt finding an air-conditioned reprieve
somewhere. Kasumi was sure she would be back in time for dinner.
Father had left on a trip, leaving a note behind.

Kasumi sighed. She didn't quite know what to make of this whole
situation. Auntie Saotome's story seemed almost too fantastic to
believe, even with Happosai's confirmation. Then again, Jusenkyou
had seemed too fantastic to believe at first, hadn't it?

She thought about Ranma. Was he really a girl? He certainly
didn't act like one, but Kasumi supposed that was due to his
upbringing. Could Uncle Saotome really be so heartless as to have
done such a thing to his own daughter? Kasumi knew he had his
faults, but didn't think it was possible. She was at a loss to
explain any of this. She sighed and turned her attention back to
dinner.

Some minutes later, the front door slid open, and Nabiki's call
of "Tadaima!" floated down the hall. Kasumi called back
"O-kaeri!". Moments later, Nabiki ducked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Oneechan, where is everyone? Aren't the girls back yet?"
Nabiki snickered.

Kasumi sighed. "No, I haven't heard from them. Auntie said they
left early this morning, right after breakfast. They should have
been back by now." She thought a moment more. "You might not want
to call them that to their faces. I know they are both a bit
confused by what's happened recently."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Where's the fun in that? Where's Daddy?"

Kasumi paused. "He... he left earlier while I was out shopping.
He left a note that he was going to try to find Uncle Saotome. I
know that Father misses him terribly. He said in the note that he
wants to bring him back."

Nabiki considered. "I don't think it would be very healthy for
Uncle Saotome to drop in right now. Even if pandas are an
endangered species."

Kasumi didn't think there was much to add to that.

Kasumi was still working on dinner, and Nabiki reading a
financial magazine, when both heard the gate open and the sounds
of two girls talking. A moment later, the front door opened
again.

Both called out "Tadaima!" at the same time, and Kasumi and
Nabiki responded. A moment later they came into the kitchen.
Ranma was slightly damp, which undoubtedly explained why she was
a girl at the moment; she was also looking unusually somber.
Nabiki looked up from her magazine long enough to say "About time
we saw you..." -- her eyes flicked in Kasumi's direction for a
moment -- "guys." She went back to her magazine.

Kasumi turned away from the dinner preparations for a moment.
"Where have you two been all day? I was expecting you much
earlier. You're both certainly old enough, but it would have been
nice to call and let me know you would be late."

Akane turned a little red. "Sorry, Oneechan. We were out visiting
some people today."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow but appeared to still be engrossed in
her magazine.

"Oh?" said Kasumi, as she turned her attentions back to dinner,
which was nearly ready. "That's nice! Whom did you visit?"

Ranma and Akane exchanged glances. Ranma spoke "Dr. Tofu, and...
ummm... the N-nekohanten."

Nabiki's eyes were still on the magazine, but they were not
seeing the print on the page.

Kasumi stopped. "The Nekohanten? Really? Why there? And why did
you visit Dr. Tofu? Is one of you ill?" She was watching both of
them.

Ranma and Akane exchanged glances. Akane shook her head. "No,
Oneechan, no one's sick. We... we have a lot to talk about." She
looked at Ranma, who nodded uncertainly. Nabiki's eyebrow went
up.

"Oh dear," said Kasumi, "Dinner will be ready soon. It sounds
important, but I don't think dinner will keep well. Would you
mind waiting until right after we eat?"

Ranma piped up quickly. "Wait? No problem at all."

*****

By the end of dinner, all three sisters' attention was focused on
Ranma. The confident, arrogant young man they all knew was gone,
leaving someone who seemed lost, in distress, and -- unthinkable!
-- helpless. She sat and picked morosely at her food, and Kasumi
knew that something was very wrong: Ranma rarely ate at speeds
visible to the human eye, much less showed a lack of appetite.
Nabiki looked for the man she knew in the redhead's eyes, and had
trouble finding him. She was anxious for dinner to be over, to
find out what had happened today. Akane thought back over all the
times when Ranma had rescued her, and prayed that she would be
able to return the favor. She had hoped that the familiar
surroundings would cheer Ranma, but her mood seemed to darken at
unpredictable times.

Eventually, the dishes were cleared, and Ranma felt the moment of
her execution drawing nearer. She hoped for sympathy and
understanding from Kasumi, but she was not looking forward to the
reaction from Nabiki, much less Mr. Tendou when he returned. She
hoped Mr. Tendou was unsuccessful in his mission, as she did not
feel ready to face her father on top of everything else she was
going through right now. She didn't know if she would kill him,
or grab onto him and not let go.

Akane stood from the table. "Kasumi-neechan, Nabiki-neechan,
Ranma and I have some things we need to discuss with you." She
glanced at Ranma, who looked miserable.

Nabiki's pulse quickened. She hated secrets, and she was about to
find out what was going on here.

Soon they were settled in the Tendou living room, which was
sparsely furnished. A TV stood at one end, and there were
cushions positioned in front of it. There was a small sofa, and a
couple of upholstered chairs. Some Western art hung on the wall;
Impressionist, from the look of it. The shogi table at which Soun
and Genma played their games stood mutely in a corner, neglected.

Akane sat on the sofa next to Ranma, holding her hand, the two of
them facing Akane's sisters. Kasumi looked sympathetic and
supportive, while Nabiki's face showed the same passive
expression she always had.

Ranma summoned her courage. "Uhhh... well... when... when we were
at my Mom's house, uh, she... she showed us a buncha stuff,
pictures and documents and things. They... it... it's pretty
clear that when I was born I was a... a girl." She dropped her
head. She was already very familiar with the Tendou living room
floor, having had her face pounded into it countless times; it
was like looking at an old friend.

Kasumi glanced at Nabiki, who retained her aloof expression.
Kasumi spoke, "Ranma-kun, I... I know this must be hard for you
to find out, but does it really matter to you, here and now?
After all, you don't even remember it, do you, so it doesn't have
to affect your life today. Just because you were born a girl
doesn't mean you're not a boy now." She smiled sympathetically,
but was surprised when Ranma winced and turned red.

"Ummm... well, I... I kinda do remember it, uhhh, a little,
sorta." She stopped. Akane squeezed her hand, and she continued,
"Some of the pictures at my Mom's house sorta... sorta jogged my
memory. I... I remember bein' a girl, just... just a little."

Nabiki still had the bored expression on her face, but her eyes
never left Ranma.

Kasumi was taken aback. "I... I see. Well, still, that doesn't
mean you have to change who you are now, does it? I know you are
a boy now, and you can certainly stay that way. Just because you
were born a girl..." Kasumi trailed off as Ranma's face turned
beet red, and she looked horribly embarrassed. Ranma lowered her
head again.

Kasumi spoke gently. "Ranma, what's wrong? You can tell us. What
is bothering you so much?"

Ranma lifted her head and made an effort to speak, but just
couldn't. Akane let go of her hand and hugged Ranma, a move that
startled Kasumi, and nearly caused Nabiki's facade to fracture.
What was going on here? How had the relationship between these
two changed so much so quickly?

Ranma took a deep breath. She said in a quiet voice, "I... I'm
not sure... I... I wanna... stay a... boy."

*****

Two hours later, they were all watching Nodoka's home video of
Ranko-chan and Akane-chan's tea party. Kasumi and Nabiki watched
in rapt fascination, Nabiki losing her battle to keep her
feelings hidden. As seven-year-old Kasumi walked on screen,
Kasumi started a little. Her eyes began darting between the
red-haired girl on the screen, and the red-haired girl sitting in
her living room. Nabiki noticed, and watched her continue this
until the video reached its end.

There was silence for a few moments. Then, Kasumi spoke. "It...
it was you all along, wasn't it? I remember now, j-just a little.
When... when you came here I had this feeling I had seen you
before, but I couldn't place where. It was so odd. When your
father said you had only had that female form for two weeks, that
you were a boy, I figured you must just look like someone I
knew." She drew a deep breath. "Oh... Ranko-chan... I... I had no
idea it was you..." Ranma looked startled at being called
Ranko-chan; there was confusion in her eyes. Kasumi's eyes cast
about, as if she were trying to figure out what to do next.
"Would, would anyone like some tea?"

There were some quiet replies, and Kasumi went off to the
kitchen, leaving everyone to their thoughts. A few minutes later,
she returned with a tray. She handed out cups, and poured tea for
everyone. She sat and sipped her own for a few moments to compose
her thoughts.

"I... I didn't make the connection before, even after your mother
called you Ranko, but watching that video brings back memories.
Ranko-chan, you... you were so close to us, like a baby sister.
Especially to Akane; you two were like twins, inseparable. You
slept over at each other's houses constantly, you even shared the
same futon. Our parents were so happy that you two continued the
close ties between our families." She paused for a few moments,
eyes unfocused, before taking another sip of tea. "I remember, we
gave you a little rag doll for your birthday once; I think it had
a peasant dress and a straw bonnet. You were so happy, and you
named it after me!" Ranma's eyes bulged slightly, but she said
nothing.

Her voice became somber, and tears gathered in her eyes. "Then...
then suddenly, your family stopped visiting. Mother and Father
never told us why we never saw the Saotomes any more. Akane was
beside herself; she cried for you for weeks. N-not long after,
Mother's illness worsened, and she died, and we were all swept up
in our grief." All three sisters looked grim, and for a short
while, no one said anything.

Kasumi sighed, and took another sip of tea before continuing, "We
were all so young, and Mother's death was just so overwhelming to
us, we... we just forgot about you." Her eyes grew more watery.
She glanced over at Nabiki, who had regained her composure and
was laconic as always. "Even now, I don't remember very much, and
Akane and Nabiki were even younger. The thing I remember most,
though, is how close you and Akane were. You couldn't have been
closer if you had truly been twins." Tears started to spill down
her cheeks. "Oh, Ranko-chan, I'm... I'm so sorry for you."

Ranma was looking back at Kasumi, agony written on her face.
Kasumi went over to where she was sitting, and gave her a hug as
well. "I'll help you through this, Ranko-chan. No matter what you
decide. I'm... I'm so sorry." Tears were starting to fall from
Ranma's eyes, too; this was just too much, too overwhelming. Not
just a girl, but like a sister to Akane and the others? Akane's
twin sister? Who... who was she, really? Who was this other
person she had been? Where had that person gone; was she still
inside Ranma, somewhere? She let Kasumi and Akane hold her as she
cried. What was happening to her? Saotome Ranma, man amongst men,
would never have cried like this, would never have opened up his
feelings. She felt that, in acknowledging her feelings about her
gender, she had opened Pandora's box, and things would never be
the same. A part of her was screaming to fight this, to hide her
feelings, but... but she didn't really want to, and she simply
couldn't. Not any more.

After a time, the embrace ended, and for a while they just sat,
each girl lost in her own thoughts. Nabiki finally spoke. "So,
Ranma, where does this leave us? Are you going to do as Dr. Tofu
suggests?"

Ranma's eyes once again showed fear. "I... m-maybe. I... I just
don't know." She swallowed, but didn't say the words she had said
to Akane and Dr. Tofu. She wasn't ready to say those words in
front of anyone else yet. She was still too ashamed to admit that
she was terrified, frightened worse than she had ever been in her
life, except for the Nekoken training.

Nabiki stood up and stretched. "Well, this has been quite an
evening. All this angst has worn me out, and I am going to take a
quick bath and turn in." She headed for the bath.

Ranma stood as well. "Akane, I... I think I need to take a walk.
I'm too wired to sleep, and I need to calm down." She smiled a
fragile smile. "I'll... I'll be back soon, don't worry." She
slowly walked to the genkan, put on her shoes, and stepped out
the front door.

Akane and Kasumi sat there in somewhat of a daze. Kasumi said,
"Akane, I know I seem naive about some things, but I understand
people and their feelings very well. What is Ranko-chan so
frightened about?"

Akane's eyes widened. "Oneechan, I... I think she really wants to
be a girl again. She told you how she feels earlier. But she's
terrified. She's been a boy so long, she's forgotten what it's
like being a girl, and it scares her; she's so used to being a
boy even though she doesn't like it." Tears started to form in
Akane's eyes. "And... and it's eating her up! She wants to try
Dr. Tofu's idea, but she's so scared, and she's suffered so much,
and she hated being a boy the whole time! The whole time! All
those years, and she wasn't even happy! And that damned father of
hers was pounding her to be a 'man amongst men' the whole time!
What kind of a life has she had? I... I thought I knew who Ranma
was, but none of us did. Inside that macho shell, he was hurting,
hurting for so long..." Akane started sobbing, and Kasumi moved
to hold her. Akane buried her head in Kasumi's shoulder and
cried. "She's so unhappy, and it's tearing me up..."

Kasumi held Akane and stroked her hair for a few minutes.

"Akane," said Kasumi gently, "you know we musn't push Ranko-chan
into this. You and I may think we understand what she is going
through, what she needs, but we can't be sure, and she has to
make her own decisions."

Akane sniffled a bit, and wiped her face. "I... I know, Oneechan.
I... I figured this out this morning, when she told me how she
felt about being a boy and about being a girl. I... I knew I
couldn't tell her then. I think... I think she knows what she
wants to do, but she won't let herself, because it's too scary.
It's like those animals who have been caged so long, when the
door is unlocked and left open, they cower inside. They're too
afraid to come out." Akane sighed. "I... I hope she figures out
how she feels about this soon. She's... she's starting to get
really anxious and depressed, and she's having trouble coping.
It's like the Ranma we knew is crumbling away, and... and there
isn't a new Ranma yet who is ready to stand on her own two feet.
I'm sure people are going to notice how different Ranma is when
he's at school tomorrow."

Nabiki returned from her bath; it must have been short indeed.
She quickly turned the corner and climbed the stairs, quietly
calling out "O-yasumi." A chorus of "O-yasumi" followed her up.

Kasumi said, "We'll just have to deal with that as it comes.
You'll be there with her, thank goodness for that." She stood up,
and took Akane's hand. "Come on, dear. This has been a rough day
for both of you. You need to rest." Akane nodded, "I want to wait
up until Ranma comes back. I want to make sure she's feeling OK."
Kasumi smiled, "I'll wait with you, but why don't you go take
your bath?" She tugged on Akane's hand, and Akane nodded and
headed for the bath.

*****

Twenty minutes later, Akane was sitting in the living room in her
pajamas, her hair damp, reading a magazine and waiting for Ranma
to come home. Kasumi was doing needlepoint, and noticed that she
didn't have one of the colors of thread she needed. She sighed,
put down her work, and headed up the stairs to her room to fetch
it.

As she passed Nabiki's room, she stopped short. There were soft
crying sounds coming from inside. Kasumi stood there for a few
moments, then knocked on the door. "Nabiki? It's me, Kasumi." The
crying stopped, but nothing happened. After a minute, Nabiki
opened the door. Her usual composure was in tatters: her eyes
were red, her chin was quivering, and misery was written on her
face. Kasumi's jaw dropped, but she quickly regained her senses.
Taking Nabiki firmly by the hand, she pulled her into the room,
closing the door behind them.

She and Nabiki sat down on the bed. "Nabiki, dear, what's wrong?
Why are you crying? You seemed so calm earlier!"

Nabiki looked grim. "Horror movies always did make me cry. That's
why I stopped going to see them."

Kasumi was confused. She asked, "Horror movies? Did you see a
horror movie that frightened you recently?"

Nabiki seemed angry. "I saw a horror movie tonight! You know, one
of those horrible, icky ones where someone morphs into something
else, becomes some other thing. Tonight, I saw an obnoxious boy I
knew, and loved to tease and take advantage of, slowly change
into a terrified and lonely girl, while I watched." She gulped.
"A girl... a girl I once knew but don't remember, who... who was
like a little sister to me." She looked at Kasumi for a moment.
"And... and it was all in my head. Ranma didn't really change,
but how she looked to me did. And that wasn't the end of the
horror movie in my head. I also saw that girl being tortured for
over a decade by a sadistic bastard who was supposed to be her
father." Kasumi was speechless.

Nabiki drew a shaky breath, and laughed. "I know everyone thinks
I'm 'the Ice Queen'. I didn't ask for it, but the reputation
helps my business, so it's OK with me. But... but every once in a
while, something comes along... like... like Mom dying," she
swallowed, "something that overwhelms me, and... and I guess I
get a chance to remind myself that I'm still a human being." She
shuddered. "I... I didn't think one human being could do to
another what Ranko's father did to her. It even horrified cynical
li'l old me." She managed a shaky smile. "Don't worry about me,
I'll be back to business as usual by tomorrow."

Kasumi moved wordlessly to enfold Nabiki in a hug, and, with a
shuddering gasp, Nabiki accepted it and started sobbing again.
Kasumi held her for a few minutes, then from downstairs came the
sound of the front door and a cry of "Tadaima!", followed by
Akane's "O-kaeri!" Nabiki broke her embrace with Kasumi. "Don't
you dare let them see me like this! Tell them I'm asleep already.
Go on, I'm all right now."

Kasumi nodded, and quickly left the room. She walked back
downstairs, finding Ranma talking quietly with Akane. She took a
closer look; Ranma didn't seem much better after her walk; she
still had the haunted look about her eyes.

Kasumi spoke. "You both have school tomorrow. Considering how
hard today was, I think you should get to sleep. Nabiki is asleep
already." Ranma and Akane nodded quietly, and Akane headed for
her room, exchanging her good-nights with the others. Ranma
walked down the hall to the bath.

After dropping her clothes in the laundry and proceeding inside,
Ranma was about to start washing when she happened to glance in
the mirror, and froze. A red-haired girl was looking back at her.
She had seen that girl hundreds of times, but now she saw
something different. That girl had always been a fraud, a mask
that cloaked her true, male self. She wasn't a real girl, just an
illusion.

Now, with what she had learned about herself in the past few
days, Ranma couldn't say that anymore. She looked at the redhead,
and knew that this person, this *girl*, was the person she would
have been had her father not done what he did. What would she
have been like, she wondered. Would she have had girlfriends,
including Akane? Would she love to wear dresses and makeup? Would
she have a boyfriend? Would she never have learned martial arts?
Would she have learned other things instead? What would have
happened?

And could it all still happen?

She walked slowly up to the mirror, never taking her eyes from
the girl looking back at her. She had abused this girl almost as
much as her father had; now, she had to face her as a real
person, someone who had had her life taken away from her. "I'm
sorry..." she said to her reflection. "I'm so sorry..."

As she approached the mirror, she lifted her arm and reached out
her hand towards the reflection. The girl in the mirror did
likewise, and their fingertips met at the glass.

"Who are you?" whispered Ranma.

*****

Ranma stepped to the sink to wash up. He was in between classes
and alone in the boy's restroom. He needed to hurry to be on time
to his next class and avoid bucket duty. As he finished washing
his hands, he looked up to the mirror and gasped. A red-haired
girl was looking back at him. He looked down, and she was indeed
female. How had that happened? The water wasn't nearly cold
enough, and she had *definitely* been male a few seconds ago.

As she was wondering she also noticed that she was wearing her
Furinkan High School girl's uniform. Her frown deepened. What was
going on?

Suddenly the door swung open and Ranma cringed, anticipating the
teasing she would get from the boys when they saw her like this.
She was surprised to see several girls walk in. What were they
doing in the boy's room?

The girls noticed her. "You pervert! What are you doing in *our*
restroom?"

Ranma looked around. Sure enough, she seemed to be in the girl's
room. "I... I don't know..."

The girls began to grow angry. "You don't belong in here! You're
not a real girl!"

Ranma began to cry. "But... but I *am* a real girl!" Had she
really meant to say that? Why was she crying?

"No you're not! You're just a sick pervert! Get out!"

Ranma ran crying from the girl's room, and her schoolmates lined
the hallways. They were all taunting "Pervert, pervert!" as she
ran, not caring where she was going. Suddenly the bell began to
ring, signaling the next period, and Ranma's tormentors were
gone, as the world began to melt and shift, and the ringing of
the school bell became his alarm clock.

Ranma sighed and turned over on his futon, switching off his
alarm. The tears from his dream appeared to be real enough; he
wiped his eyes. He was not looking forward to school today.

None of the Tendou sisters commented on the slight redness about
Ranma's eyes when he came down to breakfast. Ranma ate
mechanically, shoveling his food in, not really paying attention.
In due course, he and Akane were off to Furinkan, Nabiki having
left a few minutes earlier.

Ranma walked on the sidewalk, next to Akane, rather then on the
fence as he usually did. He wanted to stay closer to her than he
usually was. Besides, the fence was for Saotome Ranma, man
amongst men, the great martial artist. Ranma wasn't quite sure
who he was these days, but didn't feel much like *that* Ranma.

Akane noticed Ranma's quiet and pensive air as they walked to
school, and decided to leave him to his thoughts. He had a lot to
think about. Instead of trying to engage him in conversation, she
just kept an eye on him as they walked, and smiled when he
glanced her way.

In plenty of time (for there had been no arguments to slow them
down) they approached the gates of Furinkan. As they walked
through, they both winced; Kunou was waiting for them.

He stepped forward, bokken raised. "Saotome! Where is the
pigtailed girl? What unspeakable things have you done to her?"

Akane expected Ranma's usual response, namely to pound Kunou into
the dirt. Instead, Ranma had a stricken, hurt look on his face.
His mouth moved, but for a while, no sounds came out. Finally, he
managed "I... I... I d-didn't know... I'm sorry..." Akane drew
her breath in sharply; Kunou had unwittingly hit Ranma in a place
that was very sensitive right now.

"So! You finally admit to your malfeasance! Release her so that
she may be mine!"

Ranma's hurt expression turned to white-hot fury in an instant.
"She HATES YOU! Leave her alone! SHE HATES YOU!" Ranma's eyes
started to shimmer.

Kunou smirked. "I will pledge my own troth to the fire-haired
maiden, and we shall see what her fancy might be! It is none of
your affair, peasant! I shall smite thee!" He charged forward.

Ranma sprang to respond, but Akane gasped as she noticed that his
form was off. Ranma always kept his cool in a battle; now, he was
so blinded by fury he was being very sloppy, leaving gaping holes
in his defense. Just as he always says I do, she thought. Akane
dropped her books and charged into the fight.

Kunou had been just about to catch Ranma in the side with his
bokken when it was knocked out of the way by Akane's feet, which
continued on to connect with his face. He went flying backwards
and landed dazed, but still conscious. He slowly sat up. Ranma
was breathing heavily and trying to get control of himself; he
still looked enraged. Akane took his arm gently and said, "Come
on, Ranma, we need to get to class. Come on... don't let a moron
like Kunou get to you." Ranma's eyes focused, and he nodded his
head, took a deep breath, and seemed to calm down. He looked at
Akane, confused. "Why... why did you jump in? I... I can defend
myself..." Why ain't I gettin' angry at her?

"Ranma, you always tell me I get too angry and leave myself wide
open. That's what you were doing just now. Kunou was about to get
you in the side with his bokken -- hard." She looked stern.
"Would you rather I let you get hurt, break a rib, maybe? I
didn't want to see that happen."

He didn't know why, but Ranma's ego refused to anger him as it
always did when Akane interfered in one of his fights. In the
past, he had felt humiliated, embarrassed, and angry when someone
interfered, especially a girl. He had always felt driven to prove
himself, to take on any and all challenges, and it had felt like
a slap in the face to him to have someone else fight his battles.
Why don't I care any more? He considered her words. "Th-thanks,
Akane..."

She smiled. "You're welcome." She picked up her books, and the
two continued on their way.

Kunou shook his head to clear it. He saw Ranma and Akane moving
off. "Fair Akane! Why do you protect the foul sorcerer Saotome,
when he has wronged you so?" A second later, Akane was in his
face, looking angrier than he had ever seen her before. She was
shouting at him. "Kunou, get this through that damn thick skull
of yours. *Leave* *Ranma* *alone*! Do you understand? Ranma is
off limits. You leave her alone! Touch her and you'll be sorry
you were ever born!" Kunou's mouth hung open.

Akane walked over to Ranma, and grabbed him by the arm, pulling
him after her into the building.

>From where they were watching from the second floor hallway
window, one of Nabiki's classmates turned to her. "Nabiki, what
is going on here? Why did Akane fight to protect Ranma? Why
didn't he get angry? Why did she call Ranma 'her'?"

Nabiki merely raised an eyebrow in response.

Her classmate fumed. "All right, how much is it going to cost to
find out?"

Nabiki quirked her mouth. "If you have to ask, you can't afford
it." She walked off. Her classmates stared after her in
slack-jawed amazement.

*****

Ranma's thoughts were going in circles as he sat in
Hinako-sensei's English class. No matter how many times he
thought about things, it always came down to the same conclusion:
he couldn't go forward and he couldn't go back. He just wished he
could get this out of his head for even a moment, to just have a
break. Hinako-sensei's droning caught his attention, and he
finally saw an escape: maybe, if he paid attention to the
teacher, he could forget about his troubles for a while! He sat
up in his chair and began to follow the lesson.

Ukyou hadn't seen the fight with Kunou that morning, but the
school was buzzing about it. She kept an eye on Ranma and Akane
throughout their classes, and was surprised to see Ranma paying
attention, and Akane surreptitiously glancing his way every few
minutes, concern on her face. She resolved to corner Ranma and
Akane at lunch.

Ukyou was not the only one interested in the affairs of
Furinkan's most famous couple, and by lunchtime the gossip about
the fight with Kunou and the altered behavior between Ranma and
Akane was all over the school. Did this mean they were finally
going to get married? Why did Ranma seem so distant, so unlike
his usual self? Why wasn't Nabiki selling the answers? Eyes in
the cafeteria glanced furtively in her direction as she sat
eating her lunch.

Nabiki was working on her dessert when Kunou walked up. She
sighed.

"Tendou Nabiki, why does the fair Akane protect the foul sorcerer
Saotome, and speak of him in such a curious fashion? I would
know." He offered her a wad of bills.

Nabiki was surprised to find herself becoming irritated. She
always kept her cool in business transactions, even when they
involved family. What was going on here? Maybe... maybe when
someone in her family was hurting badly, it was different.

She shrugged. "Not interested."

Kunou was taken aback, and took out a second wad of bills. "I
insist. I must know."

Nabiki eyed the proffered yen for a long time. Finally she spoke.
"I will tell you in five weeks, after summer vacation. No
sooner." She took a single 5000 yen note from the thick wad of
cash. "This is a deposit. You can pay the rest when I tell you."
Kunou looked surprised, but bowed stiffly and walked off.

Nabiki sighed again. This was just the first day. What would
things be like by the end of the week?

*****

Ranma and Akane sat eating their lunch on the grass in the cool
shade of a large tree. They tried to ignore the whispers of the
other students, and the furtive glances being sent their way.
They both sat with their backs to the tree, next to each other,
almost touching. Ranma found it a great comfort to have Akane
close by. They didn't say much, but didn't need to.

As they finished eating, Ukyou walked up. Akane sighed, and Ranma
looked troubled. Ukyou spoke. "Ranchan, what's going on with you
two? Everyone's noticed how different you're acting." She crossed
her arms and looked irritated. "If you've finally come to a
decision about your fiancees, don't I deserve to know what it
is?"

Ukyou felt her heart falling when she saw Ranma's face turn
crimson and his eyes fall. So, it was true; he'd finally chosen
Akane. She hoped desperately that she was wrong, but things were
not looking good for her. She spoke again. "Well?"

Ranma opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He looked
horribly embarrassed. How typical, thought Ukyou. He can't even
tell me. She was shocked when Akane reached out a hand to touch
Ranma on the arm; were they already so familiar? Her heart fell
further.

"Ranma... we're going to have to tell her. She deserves to know,
doesn't she?" Ranma nodded shakily. She became angry as she saw
the fear on his face. The coward! He didn't even have the guts to
tell her without Akane pushing him. Akane turned back to Ukyou.
"Can we... can we stop by Ucchan's tonight, after you close?
We... we have a lot to talk about, and I don't want to cut into
your business hours. Ranma and I could sure use your help."
Ukyou's head came up suddenly. Was the situation different than
she had thought? She noticed the hopeful look in Ranma's eyes as
he looked at her, and noticed the despair there too. Was... was
Ranma sick? Seriously ill? Was that why Akane was being so
protective? Oh, Kami-sama, was he going to die? She had to find
out.

"I... I don't mind losing a couple of hours of business. It won't
be the first time I've closed the shop. Business doesn't really
pick up until dinnertime anyway. Could... could you guys come
over right after school? I... I don't think I can wait until
tonight."

Akane smiled, and Ranma managed a tiny smile of his own. "Sure,
Ukyou. We need to stop by home first, to pick up some... uh,
things we need." Things? Ukyou thought. "Uh, sure. I'll see you
after that." Akane and Ranma both nodded. Ukyou turned and walked
away.

Ranma let out an explosive sigh. "Maybe I should just give an
interview in the newspaper. That way, all of Tokyo could find out
at once instead of one at a time." Akane giggled, and Ranma
managed a smile.

*****

Ranma hurried into the boy's room after lunch. He didn't have
much time before class. A short while later, he was washing his
hands, and feeling terribly unnerved by the memory of his dream
that morning.

The door swung open, and Ranma jumped. He relaxed when Hiroshi,
Daisuke, and some of the other boys he knew walked in. Daisuke
walked up and slapped him on the back as he dried his hands.
"Hey, buddy boy, smooth moves with Akane! You got her eating out
of your hand now!" He stepped back when he saw Ranma getting
irritated.

"It ain't like that! Me an' Akane, we're friends, OK?"

The other boys looked uncertain. "Hey, no offense, Ranma. We know
you're fiancees, after all."

Ranma's face fell, and he looked... sad? "Not any more..." His
eyes widened, and he clapped a hand over his mouth. "Oh, man..."

In an instant there was a crowd around him. "You mean Akane's
free? Yatta!" "Did you pick Shampoo? She's so hot!" "Hey, are any
of your other fiancees available?"

Ranma's face grew angry, and his friends stepped back in
confusion. "Leave me alone!" he shouted, and he walked out of the
restroom, leaving a confused buzz behind him. I really put my
foot in it now, he thought.

By the next time he had a class together with Akane, this latest
news had traveled all through the school as well, and she looked
angry. He looked at her, sorrow in his eyes, and mouthed the
words, "My big mouth. I'm sorry." Her eyes softened, and she
nodded.

At the last class of the day, PE, the other boys were talking
about Ranma. His performance was not up to his usual level, and
he spent a lot of time looking at the girls' PE class at the
opposite side of the field.

"Sheesh, he's sure distracted." "I think Akane dumped him, and
she's tryin' to be nice to make up for it." "Look at him checkin'
the girls out. I bet he's lookin' for a new girlfriend right now,
like he don't have enough already." "Naah, he's lookin' for
Akane, can't you tell heartbreak when you see it?"

All through PE, Ranma watched the girls, and wondered.

*****

Ukyou stared at the documents and photographs in front of her,
the blood rushing in her ears. Ranma and Akane sat on the other
side of a table at the Ucchan. They were saying something, but
she couldn't hear them. They stopped when she buried her face in
her hands. "U-Ucchan?"

Ten years. Ten damn years of her life. Ten years spent chasing
that boy. And... and he wasn't even a boy! She looked up at Akane
and Ranchan, and sure enough, Ranchan had tears in... his eyes.
"Ucchan?" he asked again. "Are... are you OK? I'm... I'm really
sorry..."

Damn it! Damn it damn it damn it! Her whole future, her happy
life with Ranchan, the family they would raise together... down
the drain. She looked at him looking back at her, and was
suddenly angry. She stood up. "Excuse me a second." She walked
around the counter and past the grill, going into the kitchen,
while Ranma and Akane stared after her. They looked at each other
after she disappeared. "Ranma, do you think...?" asked Akane.

Ukyou reappeared, carrying a glass of water. She walked back past
the grill, around the end of the counter, and over to the table
where they were sitting. Aiming carefully to avoid getting the
papers wet, she callously threw the glass of water in Ranma's
face. Ranma choked and sputtered, and Akane bristled and
half-stood from her chair.

Ukyou sat down, hard, and looked at the redhead glaring back at
her. Suddenly she didn't feel angry any more, just tired, and
very sad, and... old. When had she lost her innocence? Too damn
long ago. She put her head back in her hands. "I'm really sorry,
Ranchan, I... I just can't stand to look at... your boy form
right now..." 

Ranma's anger left her, and she slumped. She... she could
understand how Ukyou felt. Akane looked back and forth between
the two of them. Well, it could have gone worse...

Ukyou raised her head, and found Ranchan looking back at her, her
damp face showing concern again, clumps of wet hair hanging
around it. Ukyou didn't know whether to laugh at the image or to
cry. Maybe both.

She sighed. "So where does this leave you, Ranchan? You can't
marry any of us because you're legally a girl and your mom won't
let you, but all you know is being a guy. That's just great..."
she trailed off; Akane and Ranma were looking at each other.

She couldn't believe this was happening... "There's more, right?
Out with it."

Ranma swallowed nervously, and Akane once more put her hand on
Ranma's arm, as she had done at lunch. Ranma dropped her head,
and spoke in a tiny voice. "Well, uhhh, I... I... I'm not... sure
I wanna... s-stay... a... a boy..."

Akane thought Ukyou's eyes were going to pop out of her head.
Ukyou felt a buzzing feeling in her head; she felt dizzy. All she
could manage was "Wh-what?"

Ranma turned beet red, and her chin rested on her chest. Ukyou
regained her composure somewhat. "What... what do you mean,
Ranchan?"

Ranma looked up, and Ukyou saw pain and fear in her face.
"U-Ucchan, I... I..." she trailed off. Ukyou started to wonder if
she was really the one who was hurting here. She leaned forward.
"Ranchan, what's wrong? What's bothering you so much? You can
tell me. We're old friends, right?"

Ranma seemed to gather strength, and Akane put an arm around her.
She looked up at Ukyou again. "Ucchan, I... I kinda... kinda
haven't liked bein'... a guy. Not... not ever."

Ukyou's gaze never wavered from Ranma's face. Ranma swallowed,
and continued "Dr. Tofu says it's 'cause I was a girl when I was
young, and even though I've been a guy all this time, that...
that maybe... maybe I'm still a girl inside." She gave a tiny
smile. "He... he said I was kinda like you." Ukyou looked as if
she had seen a ghost. "U-Ucchan?"

Suddenly it was all clear to her. That bastard, that stinking
bastard, he had screwed up Ranchan's life too; even worse than
hers! She hadn't thought that was possible. And on top of that,
he had actually turned her into a boy! Ukyou shuddered; she
definitely wasn't the one who had suffered the most from Genma.
Thank Kami-sama that her father hadn't known Happosai. Ukyou felt
an icy chill run up her spine. It could have happened to me...

She looked back at the red-haired girl across the table from her,
the person who had tried *so* hard to be a friend to her, and
Akane, and even Shampoo, but who had been flustered,
uncomfortable, and at a loss due to the romantic attentions Ukyou
and the others had showered on... her. Ukyou quirked her mouth. I
guess Ranchan doesn't swing that way... she thought. Best not to
raise *that* subject right now... She looked back with sympathy.
"What are you going to do, Ranchan?"

Ranma shook her head. "I... I dunno. Dr. Tofu says I should try
bein' Ranko again over summer break, to see what it's like, to
see if... if I like it better. But... but..." Fear showed in her
eyes again, and she stopped speaking. "I... I think that's a good
idea, Ranchan. If you want to, of course." Ukyou tried to sound
supportive. As badly as she was hurt by this, Ranchan was clearly
hurting more. She had lost a fiancee, but Ranchan had lost his...
her identity.

Encouraged, Akane spoke out. "Ukyou, Kasumi tells us that
Ranko... Ranma and I were close, like twins, way back then. I...
I guess that's why I love her so, even though the engagement
always made us both uncomfortable." Ranma smiled at Akane, and
Akane smiled back. "I... I'm actually happy I can be Ranma's
friend now, without worrying about the engagement." She looked
Ukyou in the eye. "Ukyou, Ranma really needs her friends right
now. Can... can you be a friend to her again? Not a fiancee?
Please?"

Ukyou looked at the unhappy redhead, and sighed. Life was
certainly full of surprises. "Of course, Akane. I... I love
Ranchan too. I... I'll be happy to help... her." She smiled at
Ranma, and Ranma smiled hopefully back. Ukyou felt the tension
between the three of them ease, the tension that had been the
inevitable result of the romantic rivalry. She had always liked
Akane; maybe... maybe the three of them...

It was only after Akane and Ranma had left that she allowed
herself the luxury of a good long cry -- not too long, she had to
open shop. She swore silently to herself as she sobbed; "Now I
have twice the reason to kill him. Now it's for you, too,
Ranchan..."

*****

A couple of days later, several of the girls were eating lunch
outside together at Furinkan. Yuka was talking animatedly with
some of her friends, when Sayuri nudged her. "Look at that
pervert."

Yuka was disoriented. "What? Who?"

Sayuri nodded her head in the direction of Ranma, Akane, and
Ukyou, who were eating off by themselves. "Him. Ranma. Every so
often I catch him staring at us. What a perv. He's eating lunch
with those two, and he has to ogle us too. Disgusting. No wonder
Akane dumped him."

Yuka kept a discreet eye on Ranma. Sure enough, a few minutes
later, Ranma started looking at the group of girls she was
sitting with. She started to get mad, then got a good look at
Ranma's face. She spoke to Sayuri. "I... I don't think he's
ogling us, Sayuri-chan. Look at his face."

Sayuri watched Ranma out of the corner of her eye, more closely
than she had before. Yuka was right; there was a terrible sadness
and loneliness in his eyes, not like the Ranma she knew at all.
She noticed that Akane and Ukyou were both looking at Ranma, so
they must know he was looking at her and her friends. They'd both
pound him if they thought he was ogling other girls.

"You're right... he's really upset about something. But what
could it possibly have to do with us?"

Yuka pondered that. "Ranma's been really strange this week. And
the relationship between him and Akane is very different. Now
Ukyou's acting funny, too. It's almost like they're... worried
about him, for some reason." She got wide-eyed. "You... you don't
suppose he's got some serious illness, do you?"

Sayuri's expression became determined. "There's only one way to
find out. Come on." She stood up, and Yuka, caught by surprise,
scrambled to catch up. "We won't ask any questions. I just want
to watch them interact."

Ranma saw Sayuri stand up, and guiltily looked away from the
group of girls having lunch. "Oh man, now I'm gonna get it," he
said.

Akane looked over at Sayuri and Yuka as they walked over. "I
don't think so, Ranma. They don't look mad."

Sayuri and Yuka walked up. "Hi! Do you mind if we join you?"

Ranma looked surprised, and could only shake his head. Akane and
Ukyou looked at each other, then nodded their assent.

Sayuri and Yuka sat down, and unwrapped their lunches again.
Ranma turned back to the food he had been picking at. Already,
Akane could see that he had lost a little weight; this worried
her deeply. Sayuri and Yuka also noticed that Ranma did not have
his usual appetite.

Sayuri turned to Akane. "Akane-chan, have you heard about the new
music teacher? It sounds like they're going to be offering music
classes as an elective. It's so nice when Principal Kunou is
gone; Vice Principal Takano really wants to improve the school,
but he can only do it when the head loony is away."

Akane shook her head. "No, I hadn't heard. Are you going to try
out the classes?"

Sayuri shrugged her shoulders. "I took piano lessons when I was
younger, but I'm not sure..."

Ranma piped up. "I... I like music... maybe..."

Sayuri and Yuka turned to look at Ranma, who drooped a little
under their scrutiny. Sayuri spoke. "That's... that's really
nice, Ranma. I'm impressed. Some guys actually believe it's just
a girl thing, can you believe it? It shows how mature and
confident you are in your masculinity..." Sayuri trailed off as
she saw the sequence of emotions on Ranma's face: hope,
embarrassment, sadness, pain. She swallowed.

Ranma kept quiet after that, and as the conversation continued,
Sayuri got a good look at the emotions Ranma was experiencing. He
watched each girl in turn as they talked, and almost looked as if
he were longing for something. He was clearly deeply disturbed.

The bell rang, and Akane said gently, "Come on, Ranma, we have to
get going." Ranma nodded quietly, and followed, along with Ukyou.
Sayuri and Yuka looked at each other before standing up
themselves; since when had Ranma started following Akane's lead?

"Something is definitely going on here..." said Sayuri, as she
and Yuka dashed for their next class.

*****

Ranma heaved a sigh of relief; it was Friday at last, and he was
in PE, the last class of the day. Just a little longer, and he
could have four whole weeks to... mull over his problem, without
having to worry about school.

He no longer looked at the girls as they had their PE class. He
noticed he was getting strange looks from the girls at school,
and imagined he had been too obvious. They probably thought he
was a peeping tom now. He sighed.

At last the bell rang, and they headed for the locker room. Ranma
stole a quick look and noticed that the girls were already gone;
they must have finished their soccer game a little early, and
quit rather than start something new in the short time left.

Ranma took off his gym clothes and tried hard not to look at all
the naked guys around him. He had always found the locker room a
little intimidating, but over the last week it had grown very
uncomfortable. He... he felt like he didn't belong in here, like
he was an intruder. He tried hard to focus on getting finished
and getting out.

Hirota, who was well known to dislike Ranma, spoke out loudly.
"Hey, I noticed Saotome ain't checkin' out the girls any more.
Maybe he's picked a few out for his harem?" Ranma blushed deeply,
but said nothing. He had taken his clothes off and headed for the
showers. He tried hard to ignore everything around him.

One of the other boys spoke up. "I dunno why he gets all the cute
girls. I mean, jeez, he could at least leave a few for the rest
of us." Ranma reached the shower and turned it on, good and hot.
He relaxed a little as the hot water poured over his body,
loosening his muscles.

Another boy said, "I feel deprived. We have to check the girls
out from the other side of the field, but he's always sittin'
with 'em and checkin' 'em out up close. He even sneaks into their
locker room disguised and peeps." Ranma grew angry, but focused
on getting out as soon as possible. My last class... it's my last
class...

Hirota grinned a nasty grin. "Well, I know one cute girl we could
check out real close..." With that, he reached in past Ranma, who
was trying hard to ignore his surroundings, and turned off the
hot water. Within a second the water turned to a cold trickle,
and Ranma changed. The shock caused her to open her eyes, and she
whirled around to face out of the shower stall. A couple of dozen
boys were standing there, in various states of undress, and
casually, slowly, taking a good long look at her naked body. Her
head swung wildly from boy to boy, and she looked to be in shock.
Her hands flew up to cover as much of herself as she could, which
wasn't much. Her mouth hung open. A couple of the boys giggled
nervously. She looked down at herself, then back at the boys.

Hiroshi turned to Daisuke. "You'd think these idiots would learn.
He pounds 'em every time they pull this stunt, and they never
remember." Daisuke nodded. They turned back to Ranma...

...who had slid down to a sitting position in the shower stall
and was quivering, looking not at all ready to pound anyone. She
looked around one last time, and a terrified look came into her
eyes. She opened her mouth, and screamed.

*****

Most of the girls had left the locker room; there were about a
dozen left. Akane, Ukyou, Yuka, and Sayuri were all dressed, and
were chatting, when an ear-piercing scream came from the boy's
locker room. A girl's scream. Akane and Ukyou looked at each
other. "Ranchan..." whispered Ukyou.

Hiroshi and Daisuke were trying to make sense of what was going
on. Ranma, rather than beating the living daylights out of the
boys responsible, was quivering in a little ball in the shower,
screaming at the top of her lungs, while the other boys variously
laughed nervously or stared in incredulity.

Suddenly, the door to the locker room slammed open, and Akane was
standing there. She surveyed the room, and several of the
undressed boys turned red and hid behind lockers. She ran in, and
spotted Ranma, quivering and screaming in the shower. Ranma's
eyes found Akane, but they weren't seeing anything.

Akane glared at the boys gathered around Ranma, and they gulped
nervously. "Get... the... hell... away... from... her!" Akane
said in low, icy, menacing tones. They nodded meekly and backed
up. Getting pounded by Ranma was bad, but getting pounded by
Akane was even worse.

Akane turned off the shower, looked around for a spare towel,
found one, and wrapped Ranma in it, covering her. Ranma's eyes
focused and she stopped screaming. She looked Akane in the eye,
still terrified. Her chin started to quiver, and suddenly she was
sobbing. Akane picked her up (she's so light as a girl, Akane
thought in wonder), gave a final withering glare at the boys, and
carried Ranma out the door. Making a quick turn around the
corner, she carried Ranma into the girl's locker room, as Ranma
continued to sob.

She walked over to a bench, in full view of the other girls,
whose eyes were all wide as could be; they stood frozen in mute
astonishment. Akane gently set Ranma down on the bench, and Ranma
continued to clutch at Akane as her body was racked by huge,
drawn-out sobs. Akane was close to crying herself; Ranma was
falling apart. The old Ranma was gone, like some
semi-mythological historical figure, a thing of legend, replaced
by a scared, unhappy person who didn't even know what sex she
was. A person who was finding simple, everyday life increasingly
difficult to cope with.

The other girls were so shocked that no one thought to point out
that Ranma was in the girl's locker room. Besides, the person on
the bench in front of them didn't seem very much like a boy.
Everyone looked on silently, until Ukyou looked up, and said
"Everyone... would... would you mind?..." The mood was broken,
and the other girls nodded quietly, and left, their eyes glued to
Ranma and Akane as they filed towards the door. While Ukyou was
occupied, Sayuri and Yuka quickly hid behind one of the back rows
of lockers.

Ukyou looked around. "They're gone." She turned back to Akane and
Ranma. Akane tried to gently coax Ranma off her shoulder. "It's
OK, Ranma. It's OK. You're safe. The boys are gone." Ranma's
crying slowly faded away, but she still was quivering. "Ucchan
and I are both here, Ranma. We won't let anyone bother you."
There was a tentative knock at the door, and Ukyou went over to
open it. She found Hiroshi and Daisuke standing outside. Hiroshi
was holding Ranma's sports bag and his clothes. "We... we thought
you might need these..." Daisuke nodded.

Ukyou looked at them with gratitude in her eyes. "Thanks," she
said simply, and took the items. She turned to go back inside,
when Hiroshi spoke again. "Is... Is he... she... all right?"
Ukyou looked worried. "I don't know yet..." With that she let the
door close.

When Ukyou returned Ranma was sitting up on her own, still
trembling a little, clutching the towel about her. Ukyou placed
Ranma's belongings on the bench next to her, and she smiled in
gratitude. Akane was holding Ranma's hand and still murmuring
calming words.

Finally, Ranma seemed calm enough to talk. "What happened,
Ranchan?" asked Ukyou. "What happened to you?"

Ranma shuddered a little but seemed to be in control of herself.
"The... the usual. I was in the shower, and they turned off the
hot water. I... I turned around... they were all staring at me,
at every part of my body..." her voice trailed off and her eyes
were wide again.

Akane asked gently, "Ranma, I know it's horrible, but this has
happened to you half a dozen times at least, and you always just
beat them up. What was different this time?" But even as the
words left her mouth, she knew the answer.

Ranma turned to Akane and looked up into her eyes. "Before...
it... it was never *my* body they were looking at..." Akane and
Ukyou were lost in thought, and Ranma looked off into the
distance, seeing something only she could see.

Behind the lockers, Yuka and Sayuri were looking at each other
with jaws agape.

Akane finally turned to Ranma again. "Ranma? Maybe... maybe we
should take you home. Would you like some hot water? It's just us
in here, so it's OK if you change."

Ranma surprised everyone, including herself, with the vehemence
and anger of her reply. "NO!" Then, more calmly, "No. I... I
don't want to be a b-boy right now."

*****

Akane and Ranma turned the corner onto the quiet street where
they lived. Ukyou had accompanied them part way home, then
hurried off to the Ucchan to prepare for the busy Friday night
crowd. She promised to drop in at the Dojo when she could.

Ranma had been quiet the whole way home, lost in thought as she
walked. Akane watched her quietly and was encouraged, because
there was a determination there that she had sorely missed in
Ranma. She seemed to be thinking very purposefully.

They turned in at the gate and walked up the path to the front
door, as Ranma shook herself out of her reverie. Sliding it open,
they called out "Tadaima!" as they took off their shoes, and
stepped up into the house. Kasumi came hurrying down the hall to
greet them. "O-kaeri... Ranko-chan, have you been crying? What on
Earth happened?"

Ranma's eyes became distant. "The boys... they..." she trailed
off.

Kasumi looked over Ranma and Akane carefully. "Why don't you come
in the living room and tell me about it over a nice cup of tea?"
She smiled.

Nabiki was in the living room reading a magazine when her little
sister... her two little sisters walked in, and sat down. She
could tell immediately that something serious had happened, and
lay the magazine aside. Kasumi followed a moment later with the
tea things, and made sure everyone had something. Ranma took a
big sip, and thought.

"I... I was in the locker room after PE, takin' a shower, when...
when some of the guys did somethin' rotten they do sometimes.
They... they turned the hot water off, and I" she swallowed
"changed."

Kasumi frowned. "Ranko-chan, that's awful! What did you do?"

Ranma blushed deep red. "Well, this has happened a couple times
before, and usually I just pound 'em, and they lay off for a few
months. This time, I... I..." she trailed off and looked at
Akane.

"She screamed, loud enough to wake the dead. I heard her over in
the girl's locker room and went over there to help out. She was
just sitting there in the shower while the *boys*" -- she
practically spat this word -- "were just standing around staring
at her." Akane was fuming. Some days, she really hated boys, and
this was definitely one of them.

She collected herself. "I wrapped her up in a towel, and took her
over to the girl's side until she calmed down. We came straight
home."

Kasumi nodded her head thoughtfully.

Ranma regained her voice. "I... whenever they did this before, I
was really mad, but... but it didn't matter somehow. This time,
though... they... they were looking at *me*." She shuddered. "At
*my* body, not some cursed form I didn't care about." Her eyes
started to tear again. "I... I felt so... so..."

"Violated?" asked Nabiki. Everyone turned to stare at her.

Ranma nodded. "Uh... yeah."

After that, they all sat for a few minutes, each lost in her own
thoughts.

Kasumi spoke first. "Ranko-chan, why... why don't you go take a
bath. I'm sure it will help you relax."

For some reason, the thought of a bath made Ranma uneasy, but it
made sense. "O-OK..." Ranma paused for a second, "O-o-neechan."
She smiled tremulously, and Kasumi smiled back. Ranma turned and
headed for the bath. Nabiki watched her depart, then turned back
to Kasumi. She could tell that Kasumi was very pleased that Ranma
had called her Oneechan.

Ranma dumped her Chinese clothes in the dirty laundry, and went
on into the bath. She looked in the mirror before she started
washing up. "I really cried my eyes out, didn't I," she said, as
she looked at herself. She washed carefully, shivering a bit, but
the cold water was refreshing after the heat of the day. She
already felt better. She got up, stretched, and went over to the
bath, stepped up to get in...

...and stopped.

She looked at the bath full of hot water, her heart pounding. She
felt terribly uneasy about getting in. She really wanted to relax
in the bath, but... but if she did that... she would turn into
a... boy.

She stepped down from the bath and walked back to the mirror, and
looked at herself. Not at a red-haired girl who was a different
person, not at a cursed form, but at herself. "This is me," she
said to the mirror, "not some person I woulda been if Pop hadn't
done it. *Me*. Th-those boys were looking at *me*." She looked at
herself in the mirror for a while. Suddenly, she turned, and
climbed into the bath.

*****

"How do you think she is feeling, Akane?"

The Tendou sisters were huddled in the living room. Akane
considered the question. "It's... it's odd. She was hysterical --
it took Ukyou and I a good ten minutes to calm her down -- but
somehow, now, she seems more back on track than she's been. It's
like she's thinking about her problem, not just falling apart.
It's a relief, to be honest."

"I noticed she was still a girl when you came home," observed
Nabiki.

Akane nodded. "She... I offered her hot water, but... she... she
didn't want to change."

Nabiki nodded, and the three sisters sat in thought for a while.

They heard Ranma's footsteps coming from the bath, and turned to
see how he was feeling. Akane started to speak, then stopped.
Ranma was wet from the bath, but still female; she must have
changed back afterwards. She was standing there in a cotton robe,
rather than her usual tank top and shorts. And her hair was
unbound, no longer in a pig-tail. Akane could see the Dragon's
Whisker in her hand.

All three sisters stared at her. Kasumi recovered first. "Ran...
Ranko-chan?"

Ranma turned to face her, a nervous smile on her face. "Yes,
Oneechan?"

Kasumi's eyes widened, then she smiled back. "Don't you... don't
you want to get dressed? It's not even dinner time yet."

Ranma nodded. "Yes, but... but I didn't have any clothes to
wear."

Kasumi frowned. "That's odd, I was sure that some of your shorts
and tank-tops were in there."

Ranma nodded. "There were some, yes. I... I didn't wanna wear
them." She pursed her lips and didn't say anything more.

There was silence as the import of her words sank in.

Akane looked at her. "Ran... Ranko?" Ranko nodded, a small,
frightened smile on her face. "For... for now. I... I wanna try
it out." She took a deep breath. "St-starting now."

Kasumi smiled, stood up, and went over to give Ranko a hug.
"Whatever makes you happy, little sister." Ranko smiled and
nodded, and there were tears in her eyes.

*****

Ranko sat on her futon, warily regarding her opponent. Her
opponent didn't speak, which was not surprising, since it was
made of nylon and spandex.

She had come upstairs to dress, and inventory her collection of
female clothing, figuring that clothes were a good place to get
started. She found:

2 dresses
1 bra
1 bikini brief
1 one-piece swimsuit, with the word "Boy" stitched on the front
(have to get Kasumi to take that off...)
1 Furinkan High School girl's uniform, a bit worn from fights
1 set of Furinkan High School girl's PE clothes

The swimsuit was the only thing she had actually used frequently,
since it was the only way she could swim. The rest were for
disguises. The underwear had been acquired when she had to fight
Happosai, and she hadn't worn it since. It looked like she would
need to go clothes shopping. Soon. Like, first thing tomorrow.

She continued regarding her lone bra. It had taken a lot to get
her to wear it before. She had stayed as far away from female
underwear as possible; it had threatened her hold on maleness too
much.

Now, she was, well, female (at least for the next four weeks).
She was *supposed* to wear female underwear. She closed her eyes.
I'm a girl. I'm not cross-dressing, I'm not a guy wearing girls'
clothes, I'm a girl; I'm *supposed* to wear these clothes. It's
OK. I'm a girl, a girl. She understood why Dr. Tofu had suggested
she spend time away from her usual haunts; it would take her a
while to get used to this, to not feel self-conscious.

Now how did you put this thing on again?

She struggled to stretch it around behind her and fasten the
hooks. It was hard to reach around behind her. Just a little
further...

Down in the living room, the three sisters heard a snap, followed
by "Owww!" from upstairs. Nabiki snickered. Kasumi looked
concerned "Oh, dear. Akane, do you want to go help her?"

Akane thought for a moment. "She's got to learn how to dress
herself, Oneechan. I think she'll manage." Kasumi nodded.

A few minutes later, Ranko came down to the living room, wearing
one of her two dresses. Her hair was still unbound, but was a bit
disheveled and uneven. She stopped at the foot of the stairs,
waiting for judgement.

Akane looked over the dress, which Ranma had gotten second-hand,
and which looked it. Her hair was a mess, too. "You... you look
nice, Ranko."

"I... I think I oughta go shoppin' tomorrow. I ain't got much to
wear."

No kidding, thought Akane. Out loud, she said "Can I come along,
Ranko?" She worried about Ranko freaking out while shopping for
girl's clothes.

"S-sure, Akane. Thank you." She smiled.

Kasumi spoke up. "I think there is someone else who would
probably love to go shopping with you, Ranko-chan." She gave
Ranko a meaningful look. Ranko looked bewildered, then her eyes
widened. "Mom..." Kasumi nodded. She looked at Ranko's hair.
"Ranko-chan, would you like me to fix your hair after dinner?
It... doesn't do you justice."

Ranko swallowed. "I... I guess so..."

After a quiet dinner, Ranko sat patiently while Kasumi brushed,
combed, and clipped her hair. As far as she could tell, Kasumi
wasn't doing very much, just a bit here and there. Nabiki and
Akane watched.

"Finished!" announced Kasumi. Ranko was anxious to see what she
looked like, though she couldn't imagine it was very different.
She waited impatiently while Kasumi dusted her off, then stood
and ran over to the mirror in the front hall.

A teenage girl looked back at her. Her fiery red hair was now
even and neat, with bangs, and coming to just above her
shoulders. I... I look like a girl... she thought. Well... I
guess that *was* the idea...

Kasumi and Akane came up behind her. "It looks nice, Ranko", said
Akane. Kasumi asked, "Do you like it, Ranko-chan?"

As she looked at herself in the mirror, Ranko felt a warm, happy
feeling come over her. She turned and smiled. "Yes... Yes, I do,
Oneechan."

Kasumi turned to Akane. "Akane, when you and Ranko-chan go
shopping tomorrow, could you pick her up some good shampoo and
conditioner? I don't know what she's using now, but it's drying
her hair out something fierce."

Ranko was feeling overloaded. Being a girl sure sounded
complicated... clothes, hair, who knew what else. Did she really
want to get involved in this feminine world? She turned back to
the mirror, and looked at herself again. Saotome Ranko... the
name ran through her mind, over and over.

*****

Ranko lay on her futon, wearing a borrowed pair of Akane's
pajamas (which didn't quite fit right), trying to sleep, and
failing utterly. Her mind was awhirl with pleasant and unpleasant
thoughts.

I'm... I'm a girl, she thought. So far... it didn't seem that
different. But she knew the real differences would come from the
way she dealt with other people. When she went out as Ranko,
people would see her as a very different person and relate to her
that way. Already, Akane and her sisters were treating her
differently. She... she liked the relationship she had with them
now, much better than before; she liked the sharing and openness.
She thought about what it would be like to meet the other
students at Furinkan this way, and cringed. She wasn't ready for
that yet.

While mulling over what to do, she hadn't thought much past the
decision itself. Now, she was in the middle of it, having to play
catch-up on how to be a girl, something she had tried hard to
avoid learning in the past. She didn't really have a very good
idea of what was involved, and the many unknowns still scared
her. I guess that's why I'm trying this out, she thought. She
hoped Akane and... Mom would be patient with her. She knew she
had to work on getting rid of the macho speech and mannerisms her
father had drilled her in, not to mention his views on women.

She turned over on her side, and looked around the room. Her
father's futon was folded and visible in the closet. Random items
of his were scattered around the room , left behind in his haste
to depart. Even though he wasn't there, his presence was. It...
it hadn't bothered her earlier this week, when her mind was full
of other things, but now... She missed her father, but thinking
about him raised feelings she didn't know how to deal with right
now. She sighed and rolled over on her other side.

Akane was just starting to fall asleep when a knock came on her
door. "Come in," she said sleepily. The door opened, and Ranko
was standing there, looking sheepish.

Akane propped herself up on an elbow. "Ranko, what's wrong? Come
in." Ranko closed the door, and came over to sit on the bed. She
looked like she was elsewhere. "What is it, Ranko?" Ranko still
looked lost in thought. "It's... Pop."

Akane came fully awake. "Is he... here?" Darn, and I just took my
bath, she thought. I'll have to wash up again after I murder him.

Ranko shook her head. "No. But... I... I miss him, even though I
want to kill him, too." She sighed. "Does that make sense?"

Akane thought for a while. "I... Yes, I guess it does. He's...
he's still your father." Until I turn him into a panda rug.

Ranko nodded. "That... that room. It reminds me so much of him.
And... and of my boy self." She looked sad. "There are too many
memories in there."

Akane reached over and gave her a hug. "Do... do you want to
sleep in here with me tonight?"

Ranko looked surprised; the last time she had come into Akane's
room at night, she had been pulverized. "Are you sure?" Akane
nodded, and smiled. "OK, I'll... I'll go get my futon."

Akane smiled again. "Don't bother." She pulled the covers up.
"This bed is plenty big enough. Hop in."

Ranko stared at Akane. Share her *bed*? She... she must really
think of me as her sister now... Akane motioned with her head,
and smiled again. Ranko smiled back, and slid under the covers.
They were asleep within minutes.

Later on, Kasumi stopped by to check on Ranko; she was worried
the poor girl wouldn't be able to sleep, with so much going on in
her life right now. She quietly slid open the door to the room
Ranko shared with her father, then suddenly slid it open fully
and turned on the light. Ranko wasn't here! Where could she be? A
memory came floating up from the back of her mind...

Kasumi sat in the living room reading her copy of Margaret. Since
she was the oldest, she got to stay up later. Mother was sitting
there, too, reading a book, and Father and Uncle Saotome were
playing shogi. Auntie Saotome came into the living room.

"Keiko, have you seen Ranko anywhere? I put her to sleep a while
back, but she's not in the room where I left her." Mother looked
up. "Why, no. Oh, my -- you don't supposed she's wandered off
somewhere, do you?" She stood up, and Father and Uncle paused
their game to turn around. Auntie Saotome shook her head. "She's
not very good about staying in bed when she's supposed to, but
she knows better than to wander off. She probably got out of bed
and fell asleep somewhere."

Kasumi jumped up. "I'll help look!" Mother and Auntie Saotome
smiled at her. "Thank you, dear."

They looked high and low, in the Dojo, everywhere, but Ranko was
nowhere to be found. When Kasumi passed Akane's room, she noticed
the door was slightly ajar. She carefully slid the door open, and
peeked in.

Ranko and Akane were both in Akane's futon, all tangled up and
sound asleep. Small heads, arms, and legs stuck out in all
directions. Kasumi stifled a giggle and went to fetch Mother and
Auntie...

Kasumi turned off the light. On a hunch, she walked down the hall
to Akane's room. She slowly slid the door open and peeked in. She
couldn't help smiling; there, in the bed, mimicking their younger
selves, Ranko and Akane were asleep, arms thrown carelessly over
each other. She slid the door closed.

*****

Nodoka dried off the breakfast dishes as she thought about her
child. She hadn't seen or heard from Ranko... Ranma... at all
since the previous Tuesday, when he had finally remembered to
return the documents and video they borrowed. He and Akane had
been in too much of a hurry to get to school to chat, and had
forgotten to stop by on the way home. She didn't have a good idea
of what was going on in her child's life right now. She sighed.
As she put the last of the dishes away, the door chime rang.

"Hai!" she called out, and hurried over to the genkan. The door
slid open of its own accord, revealing Akane and... and...

Standing in front of her was her own most cherished dream, an
image she had held dear in her mind for a dozen long years. It
was a young lady with fiery red hair cut in a flattering (but
plain) style, wearing a dress (somewhat frumpy, her inner
mother's voice noted critically), carrying an outdated-looking
purse, with a very nervous look that spoiled her pretty face. And
that girl looked more beautiful to her than any other girl in the
entire world.

"Ran... Ranko?" Tears started to fall from her eyes.

The redhead nodded, tentatively, her eyes becoming moist as well.

Nodoka rushed forward into the genkan, still in her house
slippers, and crushed Ranko in a hug, and they were both crying.
"Oh, baby... I... I never thought I'd see my little girl again."
Ranko's head was spinning a little from being referred to in such
terms. Akane pulled a tissue from her purse and wiped her eyes as
well. Nodoka held Ranko out at arm's length. "Let me look at
you... Oh, you look just the way I imagined you! You're such a
beauty!" Ranko blushed and smiled a watery smile. Nodoka noticed
where they were, and blushed herself. "Where are my manners? Come
on in, girls." Ranko wondered again at being referred to that
way. A... A girl...

When they were all seated in Nodoka's living room, she was still
gazing lovingly at her resurrected daughter. "Do... do you like
it, Mom?" asked Ranko.

"Of course, dear!" She frowned suddenly. "You didn't do this just
for me, did you? Is this something *you* want to do?" Ranko
looked at Akane, then nodded. "Y-yes, it is. I... I didn't tell
you before... I never told anyone... but I... I never really
liked... being a boy. I... I thought that was normal, just part
of being that way, but... but Dr. Tofu said it wasn't. I also
thought the curse is what made me feel that being a girl was more
comfortable." She blushed. "I... I feel kinda dumb, now."

Nodoka shook her head firmly. "Why should you? After what you've
been through, you can be forgiven for thinking anything. Did you
go to school this way?"

Ranko looked nervous, and looked over at Akane. "Ranko, you have
to tell her." Ranko gulped and nodded. Nodoka suddenly felt
worried. "What is it, dear?"

Ranko turned back to her mother. "Mom... I... Dr. Tofu suggested
I... kinda try out being Ranko, over summer break. I... I just
started last night, after school. I'm supposed to try it for four
weeks, then..." she trailed off.

Nodoka spoke firmly. "Then decide what you want. In other words,
this may not be permanent, correct?" Ranko nodded. "I'm... I'm
sorry, Mom. Your... your daughter might disappear again at the
end of the summer."

Nodoka shook her head. "Don't be. I've accepted what's happened
to you, sweetheart. I just want you to be happy, and I'll accept
whatever you decide. In the meantime, I'll enjoy having my
daughter again." She smiled, and Ranko smiled back. "Did you two
come here just to visit me?"

Ranko shook her head. "I... I kinda need to go shopping, Mom. I
only got one set of underwear, and I already wore it yesterday."
She wrinkled her nose and giggled. "Akane and me, we thought you
might like to... tag along?"

Yatta! And I didn't even have to suggest it. "Of course, dear.
I'd love to."

*****

Ranko felt dizzy. She had thought she would need some underwear,
a dress or two, and a couple of other things. Her mother had had
other ideas, and Akane seemed to agree. They had bought a ton of
lingerie, several pajamas, summer dresses, skirts, slacks,
blouses and tops, more swimsuits, a hair ornament or two, some
jewelry (Ranko now wore a simple charm necklace), some clip-on
earrings (Ranko had refused to consider piercing when she hadn't
decided to stay female yet), several pairs of shoes, a new purse
and wallet, some very basic cosmetics ("You're so pretty, dear,
you don't really need it, but when you want to look
extra-nice..."), and a staggering variety of hair-care products
(including Kasumi's requested shampoo and conditioner, plus stuff
she couldn't even identify; just what *was* a "triple bonding
reconstructor"?). And they were still going strong. Ranko had no
idea how they were going to get all this home. She didn't think
she'd ever get a chance to wear it all, even if she wore a
different item every day for the next four weeks. But she knew
her mother was having the time of her life, making up for twelve
lost years.

Right now, she was trying on a beautiful dark green dress her
mother had spotted in a store window. "Oh, dear, it would be just
perfect with your hair!" Ranko wanted to point out that she
wasn't planning to go to a formal dinner-dance any time soon, but
refrained. She was in a booth in the dressing room, trying to get
into the dress, while Akane and her mother sat just outside and
waited for her to appear.

One of the salesladies came into the dressing room carrying a
tray with tea things on it; she offered some to Nodoka and Akane:
"Would you ladies like some tea?" Nodoka was a bit surprised
since the weather was so hot, but guessed it was just a
formality. She smiled and said "No, thank you," and Akane
declined as well. The saleslady bowed slightly, and turned to go.
Her heel caught on the carpet, and the tray went flying. A cup of
tea sailed through the air, and directly into the booth Ranko was
using.

"Oh my!" breathed the saleslady. "Miss, are you all right in
there? I am so sorry!"

There was a long pause. A squeaky falsetto drifted out. "I'm
fine. Thank you."

The saleslady started a bit at the voice, but shrugged, and left
the room, collecting the remains of the tea tray.

Nodoka was watching the departing saleslady when she heard a
whisper, which she didn't quite catch. She looked around. Akane
was staring at the dressing booth and looked concerned. The
whisper came again, louder. "Mother!" Nodoka got up and walked
over to the booth. "What is it, dear?"

The whisper came out again. "Mother, please get me a glass of
cold water. Now."

Akane's eyes widened.

"What's wrong, dear? Are you thirsty?" Akane rolled her eyes.
Obviously, Nodoka hadn't lived around the curse long enough.

The voice rose slightly above a whisper, and sounded distinctly
masculine in tone. "No, I'm not thirsty, Mother." Nodoka's eyes
widened in understanding. "Right away, dear."

*****

Akane, Ranko, and Nodoka walked down the street with a dizzying
array of purchases. One of them was not a lovely green dress with
a tea stain. The proprietress had been so apologetic for dumping
tea all over Ranko that she had insisted on giving them the
dress, and paying for the dry cleaning as well. It would be ready
in a few days. Ranko supposed she would have to find a formal
dinner-dance to attend.

Ranko was in a bit of a daze, and not just from the clothes.
"I... I can't believe it happened in a *dressing room*..."

"That really was quite an accident, wasn't it, dear?"

"I... I can't believe it happens with hot water, too..."

Nodoka looked puzzled. "What happens?"

"I... I mean cold water, that makes sense..."

Akane decided she'd better answer. "Ranko's curse seems to...
turn her into a water magnet. Before, she was constantly being
splashed with cold water, seemingly by chance, but always at the
worst moments. I... I guess she wasn't expecting the curse to
have the same effect when she wanted to stay in her cursed form."

They turned in to Nodoka's front gate, and struggled to get all
the packages through the front door. Eventually, they were
collected in a pile in the living room.

"Cold water is everywhere, but hot water... how can the curse
tell?"

"Ranko, dear, is there anything you can do to keep this from
happening?"

That was enough to snap Ranko out of it. "I could never keep from
changing when I didn't want to before..."

Akane reminded her, "Ranko, that was when you wanted to stay
*male*."

Ranko's memory flashed back to the Cat's Tongue, and...

"Cologne."

Nodoka frowned. "Cologne? Well, I have some, but I never thought
that it had any magical properties."

Akane and Ranko giggled. "No, Mom, Kuh Lon. She is an elder of
the Chinese Amazon tribe. She's here in Nerima with her
great-granddaughter, Shampoo, and a boy who came with them,
Mousse. Their village is right next to Jusenkyou, so they know a
great deal about it. Once, she... she locked me in my female form
for a few weeks."

Nodoka didn't miss anything. "They certainly have an interesting
way of naming people. Why did she do that, dear?"

Ranko looked embarrassed. "Well, uhh, she was trying to... to
blackmail me, I guess. Force me into marrying her
great-granddaughter."

Nodoka grew angry. "Why on Earth would she do that?"

Ranko and Akane looked at each other. "Maybe we'd better sit
down, Mom. This may take a while."

Several minutes later, after explaining the whole of their
history with the Amazons, including Cologne's helpful attitude
after their recent visit, Nodoka nodded. "It sounds like she
might be able to help you avoid changing accidentally. Why don't
we go see them later today? I'd like to meet this woman." This
latter was said in a slightly harder tone. "Meanwhile, let's rest
a bit and have lunch." She laughed. "I don't think I've shopped
that much in years and years."

Ranko still felt dizzy. Akane turned to her and playfully asked,
"So, Ranko, what do you think of your first major shopping
expedition?"

Ranko thought for a while. "Actually, it was kinda... fun.
When... when I tried stuff on, or you tried stuff on, it was
like... like..." she reached for an analogy, "like tryin' out new
moves in Kenpo, to see if they work or not." Akane sighed
slightly at Ranko's somewhat one-dimensional value system.
"And... and I liked the way I looked, even when we didn't buy
stuff." She blushed slightly.

Akane turned to Nodoka and said in a stage whisper, "Oh, she's a
girl, all right!" She and Nodoka laughed as Ranko turned a deeper
red.

"Ranko, do you have closet space to put all your new clothes in?"
asked her mother.

Ranko thought a bit, and her face fell. "I guess... if I move
some of..." she trailed off.

"What's wrong, dear?"

"It's... the room I have at the Tendous I share... shared with
Pop... Father. It... it reminds me a lot of him, and it reminds
me a lot of being... a boy." She sighed. "It's kind of a constant
reminder of things I'd rather not think about right now."

Akane chimed in. "Last night she came and spent the night in my
room; she was having trouble sleeping."

Nodoka thought for a while. "Ranko, dear, would you like to come
live here with me over break? You can stay in your old room. I've
already put the cats in storage." She smiled.

Ranko thought about what her relationship with the Tendou sisters
had been like the past few days. She wanted to spend time with
her mother, but she would miss them... "I'd... I'd like that Mom,
but I'm... I think I would miss Akane and her sisters a lot.
They've become my second family. I... I don't quite know what to
do. I'd like to be with both you and them." She looked sad.

"Akane, dear, would you like to come stay here over break as
well? You could have that spare room we don't use."

Akane thought. There was no way she was going to allow Ranko off
on her own during such a stressful time as the next four weeks
would be. She... she hadn't stayed away from home for that long
ever before, though. She knew she would miss home, would miss her
sisters. Maybe... maybe she could go visit... "May I think about
it for a while, Auntie? I want to stay with Ranko while she's
trying out being a girl, but I... I think I'd miss my family. I
also really ought to talk it over with Kasumi."

Nodoka nodded. "Why don't we leave all the clothes here for now?
Ranko, if you decide you'd rather stay at the Tendous, we can
take them over later today. Now, how about some lunch?"

"That would be great! I'm starvin'!"

"Ranko, watch your language. Try to speak a little more
politely."

"Yes, Mother."

Akane was happy to see Ranko being enthusiastic about food again.
It seemed she was feeling better.

*****

Shampoo was cleaning tables again. She sighed. She cleaned tables
a lot. At least, during summer break, she would have a little
time off since business tended to drop off. Maybe she would check
up on Ranma and see what he/she was up to...

The door chime signaled, and Shampoo turned to answer. "Welcome
to Nekohan..." she trailed off.

Akane, she recognized. There was also a middle-aged woman. But
the other girl...

The second-hand dress had been discarded at Nodoka's, and she was
now wearing a green sundress ("I always loved the way you looked
in those, dear"), a hair ornament in her neatly styled fire-red
hair, some pretty sandals, a charm necklace, clip-on earrings,
and lipstick. This person looked entirely female. The only
giveaways were the red hair, and the eyes.

"Ran... Ranma??"

Ranko smiled. "Hi Shampoo. Ummm, it's Ranko, at least for summer
break." Shampoo smiled. "Nihao Ranko, Akane, Shampoo glad to see
you! Shampoo wonder what happen." She glanced at the older woman
with an expectant look.

"Oh yeah. Shampoo, this is my mother, Saotome Nodoka." Nodoka
bowed slightly. "Mom, this is Shampoo, one of the Chinese Amazons
I told you about." Nodoka wondered at the girl's purple hair.

Shampoo bowed back. "Shampoo very glad to meet honored mother of
Ranko." She smiled. She was about to ask what was going on when
Cologne hopped in, and the introductions were repeated. When
Nodoka was introduced to Cologne, she seemed to scrutinize the
Amazon matriarch carefully. They sat down, and Ranko explained
Dr. Tofu's idea, and her decision to try it. Cologne nodded. "I
think it's a very good idea, Ranko. By the end of the summer you
should have a much better idea of how you feel about this." Ranko
nodded. "I... I'm still kinda not sure about this, but... so far,
it seems OK."

"Very good, Ranko. I suspect, however, that you didn't come just
to pay a social call."

Ranko blushed. "Well, I... earlier today, when we were out
shopping, I... I had an accident -- with hot water. I... I didn't
know that the curse worked the same way with hot water. Anyway, I
knew there ain't... isn't really a way to stick me... uh, keep me
in my male form, but I was wondering if there was something I
could do to stay female through the summer? I... if I keep
changing as often as I did before, it's gonna be hard to really
see what it's like being a girl. I... I thought you might know of
something, considering... how... how we met." Nodoka raised an
eyebrow at this, but decided not to press the issue here. She
wanted to speak with Cologne about what she had done to her
daughter. Perhaps another day.

Cologne thought for a while. "I think I might have something that
will help, Ranko. Come with me." They all followed Cologne back
into the storeroom of the Nekohanten. Cologne went over to a
small trunk, and blew off some of the dust. She turned to speak.
"Shampoo, Mousse, Ranko, I think you had best stand well clear.
If I have an accident with what is in here, it might do you
serious harm." The three cursed individuals stood on the other
side of the room.

Cologne opened the trunk. Inside were various bottles of what
appeared to be water, nestled in very thick padding. Cologne
checked that they were all intact, then nodded and turned around.

"Ranko, have you ever heard of the Musk Dynasty?" Ranko shook her
head, but Shampoo's and Mousse's eyes went very wide. "I won't go
into the details, but they have a magical artifact, the
Chisuiton. Water kept in this vessel, when splashed onto a cursed
person, will lock them in their cursed form essentially forever.
The Musk use it in ways that... I'd rather not describe right
now." Ranko, Akane, and Nodoka felt a chill from the way Cologne
spoke.

She continued. "Water used directly from the Chisuiton is full of
its magic, and the lock on the curse lasts far longer than any
individual could hope to live. But water that is no longer in the
Chisuiton starts to lose its magic, and after a time, will only
lock an individual as their cursed form for a few years, or a few
months, or even a few weeks. After hundreds of years, the water
loses its magic altogether. In these bottles, I have some water
from the Chisuiton, stolen from the Musk. It is rather old, and
so only lasts about 3 weeks."

Ranko warily eyed the bottles from across the room. If she... if
she used this water, she wouldn't be able to become a man again
until it wore off. She wasn't sure she *wanted* to become a man
again, but she wanted to keep that option open for now. Still, 3
weeks wasn't too long... "I... I guess that will work. Can I come
see you when I need more?"

Cologne nodded. "I have a relatively large amount of it. However,
Ranko, I must warn you of one thing: due to the chaotic nature of
magic, there is a very slight chance when you use this water that
it will act with its full, original strength. The chances are
low, only one in a thousand for water this old. But this is
something you had to know: that this water might lock you in your
female form forever. Also, if you use the water repeatedly, the
chances will build up. Normally, it would take many years of use
for the random factor to occur, but it could always happen sooner
by chance. Even the very first time."

Ranko considered this. "Do... do you have anything else?"

Cologne shook her head. "I have various others, like the
curseproof soap, but they all have problems and are unreliable.
This is really the only thing that works well." She stopped. "I
could give you the Cat's Tongue again, but then you will not be
able to bathe normally, and I don't have another Phoenix pill
ready to counteract it. You would be forced to remain female
until I could make another one, which would take years."

Ranko stared at the bottles, which looked so innocuous. Three
weeks without the craziness of the curse, but... but maybe the
rest of her life as a girl. She might want that some day soon,
but not right now. Still, the odds were pretty good. She
swallowed. "I'll... I'll do it." She hoped by the time she'd used
the water a few times she would have made up her mind once and
for all. Right now, being Ranko was too new for her to embrace it
forever.

Cologne nodded. "Shampoo, could you fetch me a baster from the
kitchen?" Shampoo nodded and left, returning moments later with
an ordinary roast baster. Cologne walked over to her, took it,
and walked back. She removed one of the heavy-looking bottles
from the trunk, carefully set it upright, and turned back to
Ranko. "Come here, child."

Ranko nervously walked over to Cologne. "I'm... I'm ready."
Cologne removed the latched stopper from the large bottle,
inserted the baster, and carefully withdrew a few teaspoons of
the contents. She restoppered the bottle before turning back to
Ranko. She raised the baster over Ranko's head, and discharged
the contents onto her; it soaked into her hair. "There. It's
done."

Ranko blinked. She didn't feel any different, just... wet, though
that feeling was disappearing rapidly. Cologne repacked the
bottle and placed it back in the padding.

When the trunk was closed, Ranko asked, "Are you sure this
worked?"

Cologne nodded. "I'm sure. Let's go back into the dining area.
Mousse, fetch a kettle." Mousse nodded. A few moments later, they
were all assembled back in the front of the Nekohanten. Mousse
appeared with a kettle, after a quick detour into a closet.
Shampoo took it, and poured more than enough hot water onto Ranko
to cause the change.

Nothing happened.

Ranko felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. The curse,
and all the magic associated with it, still gave her the creeps.
Even when that magic caused the curse to appear to be absent. How
could ordinary-looking water do things like this? Despite the
warmth of the water, she shivered.

Nodoka as well found her mouth a bit dry from all of this. "Well,
dear, it looks like your hot water problems are solved, at least
for the time being."

We hope, thought Akane.

*****

End Part 1

Well, It's been a little while, and I know that several of you who are
looking for the fourth (long-delayed and oft re-written) installment
of "Scream!" may be disappointed that this is not it.

You can rest assured, though, that I am finally getting that piece of 
work ready for the list.

This story started out in the bits-and-pieces section of my web site,
and I was pleasantly surprised to get an e-mail about it from Deborah.

When she wrote back several months later saying that she had continued
the story, I was flabbergasted to find that she had written 60 pages!

I was even more amazed at what followed. To someone like myself, who 
counts himself lucky to write 30k a year... All I can say is that I am
very flattered that one of my ideas sparked this much creativity in
someone else.

And believe me, the credit for this work does belong with Deborah,
despite her insistence on crediting me as a co-author. So please, make
sure her email address is included in any private response to this fic,
I will be forwarding her any responses off the list itself, as she is not
of the ffml, as well as any responses I get which were not sent to Deborah
as well. ( I set the reply-to field, I hope that works correctly).

Finally, this fic will be placed on my web site in the next day or so.

And, tomorrow, Part 2!

Later,
Steve
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
spardue@zebra.net 
(soon to be: spardue@telocity.com)
http://www.zebra.net/~spardue/anime



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