Title: The Change A Moment Makes
Author: S. Mark Gunther
Part: 1/1
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is not mine. If it was, Kuno would be my sex slave. And Mousse would be my lover. :D
Summary: A moment is all it takes to change the shift of everything.
Pairing: Surprise
Archive: Yes to AAML, and the RAAC archive. Anyone else, ask
first.
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The Change A Moment Makes
By S. Mark Gunther

   "And why should I help you?" Nabiki Tendou asked pointedly to the boy across the table from her.

   "Because you know it's the right thing to do." Mousse replied with a small smile and a hard look. "You know that this is the only way for any of us to find peace. Eliminating the Amazon influence from this group of people is the only way for something to change. And something has to change..."

   "But your life for that...that bimbo?" Nabiki softly said, her normally calm demeanor eroding as she tried to comprehend the Amazon's statements to her. "What has she done to make you give yourself for her?"

   "She is the eternal love of my life. She needs her freedom, as do I. And if my life works out for that end, then I'm happy to give it." The boy sipped at the warm tea with a soft, almost serene expression on his lined face. The pain softly resonated in his voice as his love for Shampoo gently tumbled across the table as he spoke. It was as if he was saying goodbye to her before he even said hello. "I can only do so much."

   "And this is enough?" She pointed to the small stack of currency on the table with a dissident glare. Mousse nodded and put his cup down, it clinking making a sharp sound to the few who could hear them. Or, more to the point, the ones who cared to listen. "But why? You could make any girl in this city a happy, contented woman..."

   "And not be happy myself?" Mousse raised an eyebrow and furrowed them in annoyance. "Nabiki, I gave my life for her on Togenkyo, and I'd give it again. She knows it, and I know it. Now I have to prove it."

   "Is sacrificing yourself the only way to peace?"

   "Yes."

   "...baka..." Nabiki muttered, as she looked away from the Amazon male with whom she was entangled. What he was proposing was so easy and yet so wrong. He just couldn't give himself up for that wench. He just couldn't. He was too good, too honorable...too handsome...

   "It would appear that way to you. But know this: If I cannot give her purpose, my life has no purpose. I have to die for her to have peace. For I will defeat her. This money will assure myself that after I break my one commandment to myself for her, I'll die so she can be free to chase after her dreams. A hit man will do nicely, and you know how to setup these things. Hence why it must be you to help me. You are the viper of Nerima; to you, money is no object. And you don't care about me anyway, so why should you care..." Mousse stated staring off into the windowed front of the small coffee shop they inhabited for their negotiations.

   "Do you truly believe me so cruel?" Nabiki asked, her eyes still hidden from Mousse's view. Her tears flowed down her skin softly now, unhalted as she tried to come to grips with her decision. Then in a movement, she was cleared of her emotional rain as Mousse's fingers cleaned her face and turned her eyes upon his visage.

   "It's just what I know of you..."

   "Then listen to me." She wiped her face and looked into his dark green eyes with a fury that had rarely been seen by people in the Nerima hierarchy. "You will not take your life after defeating Shampoo. We will find a way for you to both live not to be forced to marry her. Together we will do this. Because you cannot leave this group of people now. You are going to help me rebuild my family, and I'm going to make you happy."

   "What can you do to make me happy?" Mousse asked. A moment later, he learned. A soft kiss, very gentle yet very passionate nonetheless, was planted on his lips as the middle Tendou daughter laid her claim to him. For a moment time stood still, and nothing mattered except the kiss they were sharing. Then she pulled back and looked back into his eyes, her eyes shining as she continued to speak.

   "I can give you the love you deserve. I can make you give that love back to me because I know now you can be someone I can turn to whenever times are bad. And I can give you a peace you've never known. Because I'm Nabiki Tendou. I helped keep Ranma and Akane together this long, relatively speaking..."

   "...And the money?" Mousse asked, his shock still registering on his face.

   "The money is the fund for which we'll find out how to get Shampoo unhitched from Ranma. And it will also be the money for our first date. Friday night, the works. But after that, you're paying." Nabiki said, smiling slightly as she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.

   "But what if I don't love you?"

   "I don't love you either. But since you have to give yourself for Shampoo, someone who has hurt my family more than once, I have to give myself to you. You're trying to help us, not hurt us. And that makes me know you can give your love to someone else once the pain ends. You're a man, and you liked that kiss we just shared." The girl glanced down to Mousse's hands that had proceeded to tie the wrappings from the straws they drank out of into knots as he listened to her.

   "And if I did, what then?" Mousse asked softly, his mind muddled and confused.

   "We take it one step at a time. But you're not killing yourself. I'm not going to allow it, especially with your money." Nabiki stated, with a firmness that surprised even her. For a few seconds neither spoke but merely looked into the others eyes, gauging the strength and the passion behind each face.

   Then, as if a weight had been lifted from Mousse's shoulders, he reached out and took one of Nabiki's hands into his own and gently squeezed. His heart glowed with the prospect of finally keeping his promise alive, and a small smile escaped his muddled mind to the surface of his lips. "Then I guess we'll have to go to the Amazon law book then. Say Friday night at 6.30?" Nabiki nodded slowly and smiles softly as the pact was made. And a changing of the guard had begun in Nerima. It had started with nothing more than a deal, and recessed for the moment with a promise of something new.

---

Notes: This was also written in one night, but it stayed in my files for a long time while I battled my writer's block. Now after a fine pre-read (Thank you GendouKnepper, you big lug! ;D), I'm premeiring this for you. Yes it's a waff, and yes the characters are out of canon. But you know what? If Ranma can dance and prance around like a moron in so many fics, I can make a serious piece between two unsung heroes. If you like it, say something to me. If you didn't, say something as well. But give me the feedback! Thank you.

"I've got the straight edge!!!!!!!"

                     -Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat, 1981


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