On Tue, 3 Oct 2000, Tangent wrote:
"I change back to my true form with hot water," Ranma explained softly. She couldn't tell how Akane was taking this, and she almost wished that she had kept her mouth shut earlier and said nothing. She almost hadn't, but she didn't want to lie to her new friend, even if it cost her that very friendship. "I. I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore," she continued quietly, trying hard to hold back the tears that she could feel coming on. "Who would want to be friends with a freak like me, anyway?"
If Ranma is talking like this, the fic diverges waaaay before this particular
scene.