Desperation
Thom Keehn
zinyadel@hotmail.com


Exclusive rights to all Ranma1/2 characters and places belong to
Rumiko Takahashi and are used herein without permission.  This
material is not to be used for commercial gain or in any other way
that is profitable.

-----

"Ukyou-sama?" he called nervously into the darkness of the backroom.
He could hear the sounds of her sniffling in a corner far to his
right.  He moved towards the sound, swaying gracefully about the
obstacles between him and his goal, his eyes quickly adjusting to the
darkness.

Konatsu stopped short of his goal, peering at the huddled form of his
kind employer.  He settled down to the floor on his knees, giving her
some space as he rested his hands in his lap.

Ukyou was dressed in her okonomiyaki outfit, as she had just been
serving customers only a few minutes before.  Her head was hung
between her knees, her hair spilling down her back and sides in
disarray.  If she knew of his presence, she made no acknowledgement.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked quietly.  Her
choked-back sobs that answered stabbed through him, feeling as if he
was to blame for this sadness.  His hands absently smoothed out his
kimono, distressed.

Konatsu cast his eyes aside, not wanting to look at her in such a
state.  He wasn't sure what had set her off this time, not having
heard the entire exchange between the Tsubasa fellow and Ukyou, but he
had a good idea it had to do with Ranma.  After a few words with
Tsubasa, the boy had strangely ran from him, completely confusing
Konatsu.  With all the customers having fled from Ukyou's outburst at
Tsubasa and then Tsubasa's sudden departure, Konatsu had decided it
best to close the restaurant and see how Ukyou was doing.

"I need ... to talk to him," Ukyou said weakly, her breathing still
coming in gasps but slowing to a calmer pace.  Her head lifted up.

"Ranma-sama?" the waitress ventured to which Ukyou nodded.  "If you
think that's best."  Konatsu paused, uncertain of what to say next.
"Do you know what you want to say to him?"

Ukyou's head bobbed a quick yes.  "I have to tell him why I did what I
did," she said softly.  "I need him to understand."

"What if he won't listen?" Konatsu asked uneasily.

"I have to try," Ukyou stated evenly.  "He needs to make a choice and
he owes me to do it like a man.  If I am to be rejected, I at least
deserve it from him in person.  Not the way I got it before."

Konatsu nodded in understanding.  He knew about the wedding invitation
that was pinned to Ukyou's dresser in her room with one of Ukyou's
razor-sharp, mini-spatulas.  He glanced over to her, a thought
concerning this afternoon's activities in his mind.

"Ukyou-sama, who is Tsubasa?" he inquired.

"Stay away from him, Konatsu," Ukyou returned firmly, an edge to her
voice.  "I don't want you anywhere near him.  He's a really disturbed
acquaintance of mine from junior high who doesn't have the good sense
to leave me alone."

"Why is that?" Konatsu asked cautiously, already guessing the answer
from the almost bragging conversation he had had with the transvestite
earlier.

"He thinks he loves me," Ukyou replied simply.  "Be careful around him
if you are unable to avoid him.  I don't know how he'll react when he
finds out you're a guy."

Konatsu sweatdropped.  "I already told him," he admitted embarrassed.
"He ran out the door.  I didn't know he'd take it so badly."

His employer sighed heavily.  "I guess it can't be helped now," she
said.  Ukyou rocked forward a little, straightening up into a standing
position and steadying herself by holding onto a nearby shelf.  "If
we're lucky, he'll go back home."

Konatsu got up to his feet, daintily.  "Why is he such a threat?" he
asked, curious.

"He's not a threat, just a nuisance," Ukyou explained, starting to
wander her way back out of the dark room.  "He doesn't have any
friends to my knowledge.  He has a few acquaintances back home but
they're all girls that don't know he's a guy.  I can't think of
anybody that's really a friend that goes out of their way to see him."

"Why's that?" he asked as Ukyou stepped out of the storage room, into
the restaurant.  He followed, a couple steps behind.

Ukyou turned abruptly on him.  "Why are you so interested in him?" she
demanded angrily.  "Stop pestering me already and drop the subject."

Konatsu flinched, drawing back a step.  "I'm sorry."

Ukyou leaned against the grill, still heated yet not seeming to bother
her at the moment.  She crossed her arms and sighed, the stern set of
her jaw softening.  "He's clingy," Ukyou explained.  "He's weird.  He
talks about things guys really shouldn't talk about with girls."  Ukyou
shuddered, holding her arms tightly over her chest.  "I think he even
tried to rape Ranma before he found out Ranma was really a guy."

Konatsu stumbled in shock, nearly falling over facefirst into the
floor.  He regained his composure but the question still hung heavily
on his mind.  "He did ...?" he managed, not able to say the word.

"Attempted," Ukyou said with a nod.  "At least that's what I'd assume
you'd be doing if you knock a girl out and take her home for a bath."

Konatsu blushed fiercely, looking away.  "Poor Ranma-sama," he
whispered.

"Poor Ranma-sama is going to have to spare some time with me after his
beach trip today," Ukyou said with a nod.  "I'm not about to feel
sorry for him just yet."

"Yea, but ...." Konatsu began, still unable to banish the blush from
his cheeks.

Ukyou breathed deeply, letting the air out slowly as if to calm her.
She looked at him with as serious a look as she had ever given him.
"I don't want you befriending or becoming a rival of sorts with
Tsubasa," she ordered flatly.  "Ignore him.  As a friend, his stories
aren't exactly things I think you should hear and as an enemy he
really isn't worth your trouble.  Understand me?"

"Yes Ukyou-sama," Konatsu replied with a bow.

Ukyou smiled half-heartedly.  "You think you could clean up here while
I go out and get my heart torn out again for the second time in two
weeks?" Ukyou asked with feigned playfulness, to which Konatsu nodded.
"Thanks," Ukyou said, giving him a tight hug.  "You're such a dear."

Konatsu had only begun to relax in her hold when she detached herself
and moved quickly to the door.  The little bell on the door sounded
her departure, leaving Konatsu alone in the restaurant with the chores
left unfinished.

The waitress sighed, chiding himself for thinking there was more to
the hug than simple friendship.  He picked up a broom and started
about his chores.

He paused after a few minutes, smiling.  'I can always dream though,'
he thought to himself, hugging the broom to his chest.  He closed his
eyes and imagined a scene of a not so gentle embrace, followed with
not so innocent gestures of caring and intimacy.

Konatsu sighed and began to move about the room in a gentle dance with
the broom, following the lead of a partner only he could see.  An
uninformed passerby could only smile at the sight of a carefree,
working girl dreaming away about her beloved.

*       *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *

Ukyou sat on the Tendous' perimeter wall, gazing down the street.
Ranma had still not come home though everyone one else had passed by
earlier.  She had hid from view, thankful that Ranma had said
something wrong to cause his separation from the main group.

She was beginning to wonder where on Earth he could go after a half
hour passed without any sign of him, considering she highly doubted
he'd come over to her place after what had happened and was confident
he wouldn't turn up at the Cat Cafe either.  He finally bobbed into
view on the horizon, grumbling about stupid, bokken wielding, wanna-be
samurais, raising her hopes and scaring her to death at the same time.
She had something to say and had thought the conversation over and
over for these past two hours.  Now the time had come to say it.

The chef jumped off the wall and walked a bit towards him, placing
herself in his path.  She hardened her resolve as he looked up and
almost smiled at her.  It wasn't necessary as the reflexive action on
Ranma's part was quickly subdued as he snarled and pushed her aside.

"Ranchan!  Wait!" she ordered, realizing that he was intent on going
inside.

"I'm not talking to you," he said defiantly, throwing an angry glare
over his shoulder.

Ukyou balked at his words.  That was not the greeting she had expected.
Sure he hadn't come around as of late though she had hoped Akane had a
hand in that.  All the same, an angry Ranma was better than one that
would dismiss everything as nothing.  It would make fighting him all the
easier.

"After what YOU did, I'm the one that should be refusing to talk to
you," she growled a practiced line.

"After what I did?" Ranma echoed, his voice tinged with disbelief.
His eyes hardened as he took a step towards her.  "You wrecked my
wedding!  You came in without any caution with your actions!  You
could have killed someone!"

He was trying to intimidate her and doing a poor job at it.  His words
sounded almost as practiced as hers.  "Doubtful," she shot back,
refusing to back down.

"You almost hurt Akane," Ranma said heavily.

Ukyou gaped in surprise.  'Is that what he thinks?' she demanded of
herself.  'Is that how little he thinks of me?' She steeled her gaze.
"I hit exactly who I was aiming for," she declared.

Ranma blinked, confused.  "W-what?"

"You heard me," she started, trying to grab as many lines from her
planned argument as she could.  "I came for you.  For betraying me like
that.  For being such a coward to not tell me of your intentions."

Ranma grimaced.  "I d-didn't have a chance to," he explained.

He was faltering.  Whatever had inspired his anger towards her was
being overtaken by his old habit of trying to justify his actions.

"Liar!" she spat, reaching for her battle spatula, and realizing she
had completely forgotten it.  In frustration she simply stepped closer
to him, jabbing a finger in his chest accusatorially.  "Nobody could
manage that kind of wedding without preparations.  You even had the
sick humor to send me an invitation the day of your wedding.  Did you
think I would be too shocked or not have enough time to react?"

Ranma shook his head.  "Nabiki sent those," he offered in explanation.
"I had nothing to do with it!"  His hands came up in warding.

Ukyou seethed at the thoughts that came to mind.  "Oh!  So you weren't
going to invite me at all!" she yelled into his face, grabbing him by
the collar of his orange, silk shirt.  "How comforting.  And to think
I thought we were at least friends."

Ranma backed away, a mixture of emotions on his face.  Something seized
him for the moment, turning his lips in a scowl.  "I always wanted to
be friends.  You always wanted something more," he accused, stepping
towards her in a show of assertion.

"I deserved something more!" she spat at him, not backing down from his
half-hearted attempt to turn this back on her.  "I at least deserved to
have the time to understand your choice.  But no!  You wouldn't have
that.  You wanted to marry and somehow that would solve all your
problems with a simple 'I do'.  Well I have news for you, Ranma.  I'm
not going to vanish if you marry Akane.  I'll still be around and
you'd still have to wallow in your cowardice for not having the guts
to tell me to my face that you didn't want me."

Ranma's fists clenched, staring angrily at her.  "It was Pops and Mr.
Tendou that ... the preparations," he protested, the words lacking the
conviction he obviously wanted.  "I swear I didn't know about their
plans until that very morning."

Ukyou balked at the ridiculous answer.  "Were your fingers broken?"
she drawled.  "You could have called me.  Anything would have been
better than receiving that heartless invitation.  Oh, but that thought
probably never crossed your mind."

Ranma backed up a step, the anger in his eyes fading entirely for a
moment.  "It was ... happening so fast," he explained nervously.
"I wouldn't have thought to call my mother in the state of shock I
was in."

Ukyou advanced on him, not letting him get any more than arm's
distance away.  "Always the innocent," she remarked snidely.

Ranma held up his hands in front of her in a warding gesture.  "Hey,
I'm telling the truth!" he protested.  "Why doesn't anyone ever listen
to me?"

"Listen to you?" Ukyou echoed, regaining a little composure.  "What
about listening to me?  You never listened to any of my problems."
She tilted her head, awaiting a reply.

"You never told me of any," Ranma hastily shot back.

"You never asked," she said flatly.

"How am I supposed to know if something is wrong if you don't tell
me?" Ranma demanded angrily.  "I'm not some kind of mind reader, ya
know!"

The chef shook her head in disbelief.  "How am I supposed to tell the
man I love that I wish he'd notice me for a change?" she returned
softly.  She held out a palm and looked at it as if it held her
problems.  "Fine, I'll tell you right now.  I wish you'd love me."
She glanced up peering into his eyes, her jaw set with resolve.
"There.  You happy now?"

"I'm the problem?" Ranma stated in a soft voice.  "I'm your problem.
Well, what am I supposed to do about it?"  He held up his hands, palms
out towards her in a show of helplessness.  "I want to be friends but
if that isn't enough, I don't know what you want me to do."

The chef crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head annoyed.
"That does not solve anything," she said, calmly.  "Being friends was
never enough for me Ranma.  Just say that you don't love me, and I'll
go."

Ranma paused, blinking.  "You're going to just leave?" he ventured, his
brow furrowed in puzzlement.

"Yes," Ukyou said firmly.  "I'll go home and bother you no longer.  And
I hope you will have the courtesy to do the same for me."

The martial artist still looked confused.  "You can't just leave," he
protested.  "What about Konatsu?  What about ...."

"Us?" Ukyou finished for him, coldly.  "I said nothing about leaving
Nerima, Ranma.  The business is good here as anywhere else."  Her
temper flared up at a new thought.  "You think I can go home to my
family, defeated and with nothing to show for it," she continued, her
voice raising.  "You know nothing about me!  You know nothing about
the hell I've been through!"

"You never told me that either," Ranma protested weakly, stepping
back.

"Why should I?" Ukyou said, shoving him.  "You were dead set on Akane
since day one!  Why should I have opened my heart any more to you?"
She shoved him again, this time actually causing him to stagger.  "Did
you want to pull more of it out once you finally made your decision?
Is that what you want?  Isn't the pain I'm in good enough for you now
or did you want to betray me even further?"

Ukyou moved to shove him again but he caught her arms in his hands and
forced them down.  She struggled a little but he held her firmly away.
"You're being unreasonable," he said through gritted teeth.

"At least I'm being honest," she snarled back.  "I never fooled you
about how I felt.  I never pretended to love you when there was
someone else."  She tried to yank her arms out of his grasp but he
wouldn't let go.  She glared back up at him.  "What would I have
gained by letting you in any further?  What would I have gained in
telling you about my family problems?"

Ranma stared deep into her eyes, his gaze piercing through her.  "A
friend.  The friend I wanted to be for you," he answered sincerely.
"I would have been there for you.  I would have listened to your
troubles."

"I don't need a friend that breaks my heart!" Ukyou spat at him.
"There's only one thing that I want from you now!  I want a decision!"
She gritted her teeth, continuing, "Either we go forward or we become
strangers because I can't bear being at this standstill no longer."

"I ... I want to be friends," the martial artist answered, his words
faltering though his gaze remained steady.

"We can't be friends," she shot back.

"Don't you even care about what I want?" Ranma demanded, sounding
exasperated.

"Did you ever care about what I wanted?" the chef countered.  "I only
wanted you and you won't give me that!  If you can deny me love, where
is the wrong in me denying you a friendship?"

"What do you want from me?" Ranma demanded, his eyes begging her to
stop.

"Let go of me," Ukyou demanded, no longer trying to break out of his
grip.

"Why are you trying to make this out to be my fault?" Ranma asked,
a little firmness in his voice.  "Did Cologne put you under some kind of
spell?"

Ukyou blinked.  "Um ... no," she managed.

"Are you sure?" Ranma pressed.  "You haven't eaten anything from them
in the past few days?"

"Now how would that look for my business if I went to eat elsewhere?"
she asked, patronizingly.  She then scowled at him for bringing up this
silliness and belittling her argument.  "I'm serious about this!"

"About what?" he quipped.

Ukyou fumed.  'No!  He can't do this to me!' she screamed to herself.
She calmed herself, wanting her words to come out at least sounding
reasonable.

"You are my fiance until you denounce me," she started evenly, "or I
denounce you.  The situation may be awkward ...."

"That is not my fault," Ranma returned evenly.  "I never asked for all
this."

"You're right," Ukyou admitted, the day's events finally catching up
with her.  She hung her head and starting crying again, the
hopelessness of everything too much for her to bear.  It was all too
true.  He had never wanted her love.  "It's my fault."

"Please don't cry," Ranma said softly, relaxing his grip but not
letting go.

The chef tried to pull out of his grasp, but his hands immediately
tightened at her attempt.  She whimpered in dismay, wanting to run off
and cry alone but he wouldn't let her go.

"Deal with it, Ranchan," she nearly wailed.  Again she tried to get
away but he just wouldn't let go and she'd be damned if she stifled
her tears for him this time.  "It's not your fault.  It's my fault for
being foolish enough to love you.  It's my fault to dream against
reality."

"Please, stop this," he said in a soothing voice, yet somehow she
felt it was sinister.

'How bad could it be, being friends?' she asked of herself.  'It would
make him happy.'

Ukyou shook her head decisively.  "No," she said firmly, resisting the
momentary impulse.  "You have to make a sacrifice.  You can't have
Akane and me both."

The martial artist sighed.  "It doesn't have to be like that," he
declared.

Ukyou continued shaking her head, wanting badly to just let him have
his way.  "For me it does," she said, still crying a little.  "If you
have any love for me at all, you wouldn't ask me to continue on like
this.  I know you can't let go of Akane."

He stared blankly at her.  "Don't," was all he could manage.

"Please," she begged.  "Let me go.  Don't come into my shop and
pretend like nothing has happened.  Let my love for you die before
asking me to be friends."

Ranma shook his head, his jaw set firmly.  "This isn't fair," he
stated.  "I didn't marry Akane.  We don't know if we even want to, but
now is not the time for it and we made that decision together.  Why
does it have to be you or Akane?  If I say Akane, I hurt you, and I
know this.  But if I say you ...."

"I would be happy," Ukyou said softly, not looking up at him.

"What about Akane?" Ranma asked, the words coming out slowly and in a
whisper, as if he was afraid somebody might hear them.  "I don't want
to hurt Akane.  Do you?"

"I don't care," Ukyou declared flatly, lifting her tear-ridden gaze.
"All I ever wanted was you.  Akane or me, Ranma.  Make your choice."

"Akane cares for you," Ranma sighed, shaking his head.  "She would
never force this decision upon me.  Sure she would get angry ...."

"I'm not Akane," Ukyou said firmly.

Ranma let go of her hands, looking away.  "You're not being fair," he
protested.  He then turned his back on her and walked towards the gate.

Ukyou's bottom lip quivered.  It was the most of an answer she could
expect from him.  She knew he wanted friendship and she wanted to give
him it but she was afraid she'd never stop loving him if she gave in.

"Ranma, I denounce you as my fiance," she pronounced thickly.  "I want
nothing more to do with you.  Don't come back."

He stiffened, pausing at the door for a nerve-wracking moment.  She
hoped any moment now he would turn and tell her that he could chose
her and that would be it.  She could forgive him of everything if he'd
only give her the one thing she wanted.

The door closed behind him, not another word said from him.  She
whimpered, tears threatening to come again as she turned and slowly
made her way back towards her restaurant.

The chef had a feeling that it was going to be a long night.

*       *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *

Ukyou feigned a smile as she dished out the customers' orders to
Konatsu.  She was still tired, having tossed and turned restlessly for
most of the night but she had a business to run.  In the least,
working was helping her put Ranma and yesterday out of her mind,
something she was certain she couldn't do if she stayed in bed.

The bell on the door bounced, chiming the entrance of another
customer.  Out of habit the chef glanced at the door, the familiar
hope that it was Ranma hanging heavily on her heart.

To her distress, the pig-tailed martial artist stepped into the
restaurant, Akane following close behind him.  Ranma's gaze darted
about nervously as he quickly took a seat near the window.  Akane,
however, made her way to join Ranma at a more leisurely pace, staring
at the chef.

Ukyou blinked, her breath catching in her throat.  Akane, dressed in a
faded yellow sundress and sandals, eventually sat down across from
Ranma.  The sizzling of the grill and the buzz of the customers'
chatter were drowned out by the deafening patter of Ukyou's heart in
her ears.

Ranma's gaze caught hers for a moment before he snapped his eyes down
to the table.  Ukyou's eyes roamed every detail of him, noting the
blue, silk, sleeveless shirt and black pants he wore.

"Ukyou-sama?" a voice called, drawing her out of her trance.
"Ukyou-sama?"

The chef blinked at Konatsu dumbly.  "What?" she asked, distantly.

"The okonomiyaki," the waitress said pointing at the grill.

Ukyou gasped and tried to save what she could of the orders that were
burning to the surface.  Grumbling to herself about how this was all
Ranma's fault, she restarted the orders that couldn't be salvaged.

"Find out what they want," she hissed to Konatsu, not daring to look
up from the grill.  She felt the waitress move quickly from her to do
as she asked.  She mumbled apologies to the customer at the counter,
one whose order hadn't survived her lapse in attention, assuring him a
free meal for the delay.

Konatsu tapped her on the shoulder, startling her.

"Don't do that!" she snapped, causing the poor waitress to cringe.
Ukyou forced herself to be calm, swallowing her uneasiness with some
difficulty.  "Sorry, what is it?"

Konatsu lifted a finger gingerly to point at the couple by the window.
"I believe Akane-sama wants to speak with you," the waitress said
nervously.

'No,' she thought, whimpering to herself.  'I can't.'

The waitress licked his lips, his face a mask of indecisiveness.  "I
could watch the grill for you, Ukyou-sama," he offered.

Though her thoughts screamed at her that it was too soon, she nodded,
handing him the spatula.  The chef absently wiped her hands on her
outfit before walking around the counter and approaching the couple.

Ukyou watched the pair as she moved closer to them.  Ranma was staring
off, not looking at either Akane or her while Akane's eyes were
fixated on Ranma.  They didn't appear to be talking but she somehow
knew this uneasiness she sensed in Ranma had something to do with her.

"Yes?" she asked quietly, stopping at the table.

Akane's gaze shot up to her at the sound of her voice.  "Ukyou," the
youngest Tendou began, "Ranma tells me that you have renounced your
claim on him.  Is that true?"

Ukyou wanted to slap the girl but felt too exhausted to do anything.
She resisted the urge to demand if Akane really thought so little
about Ranma to conclude he was lying about it.  She resisted because
it wouldn't change the way Ranma felt about Akane.  He would still
love Akane, regardless of how badly she treated him.

"Yes," she answered distantly.  She glanced over to Ranma, who still
wasn't looking at either of them.  "I thought I told you not to come
in here."

"I don't give up on my friends," he muttered to the floor.  "I see no
reason why it has to be like this."

Ukyou took in a deep breath, letting it go slowly.  She didn't want
to deal with this now.  It was too soon.  "Get out," she said firmly.

"Why should we?" Akane demanded.  "We didn't do anything wrong."

"Get out or I'll call the authorities," Ukyou threatened.

"Fine!" Akane yelled, getting to her feet.  "I didn't want to eat here
anyways!"

Ukyou turned to see how Konatsu was doing.  "Konatsu," she called.  "I
want you to tell the authorities I have two unwanted loiterers on the
premises and they're causing trouble."

"You bitch!" Akane screamed, striking her in the face when she turned
back around.

Ukyou fell back on her bottom painfully, surprised at Akane's
reaction.  She held her aching jaw in one hand, staring in shock up at
the Tendou daughter looming above with fists clenched.

"You wrecked my wedding!" Akane screamed, throwing another punch that
never connected.  "Always acting as if I don't exist!  I'm here, Ukyou!
I'm here and I'm to stay!"

Ranma pulled at Akane from behind, holding the girl's arms still as
she continued issuing curses at Ukyou.  Ranma was saying things to
calm Akane down.

Ukyou heard none of this, playing the scene over and over in her head.
Eventually she regained her wits, realizing that Akane's protests
were no longer intelligible and that Ranma's words came out as a
soothing murmur she couldn't understand.

A hand was offered to her, which she gladly took to get to her feet.
"Are you okay, Ukyou-sama?" Konatsu asked.

Ukyou nodded.  She shook her head to clear her thoughts before
regarding the couple.  'She hit me,' she thought, dully.  'She hit
me!'

"Get out," she said firmly again, thankful that she now had a valid
reason to be rid of them.  "If you ever set foot on the premises
again, I'll have you arrested.  I would say I'm sorry about the
wedding but all I'm really sorry about is having got mixed up in all
this mess.  Good riddance to you both."

Akane snarled something that probably was a curse.  Ranma looked at
her with pleading eyes.  "Ukyou, please let me be your friend," he
begged, holding tightly onto Akane.

"Leave now," she said.  "I'm going to make that call now.  You better
not be here when I come back down."

With that said, Ukyou detached herself from Konatsu and made her way
into the back of the restaurant.  She staggered up the stairs, feeling
empty as she entered her bedroom.  Feeling safe from their sight, she
allowed herself to cry her emotions out in the darkness.

*       *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *

Konatsu closed the door behind him and peered into the darkness.  He
had closed the store a half hour ago and had cleaned up the restaurant
as he always did.

It had been heart-wrenching for him to leave the restaurant open for
the rest of the business day, not knowing how Ukyou was doing.  Three
hours was a long time and though he worried for her safety, he
respected her privacy, knowing she probably needed the time to sort
through the events of the day.

"Ukyou-sama?" he called out softly.

"Are they gone?" her voice asked from somewhere deep in the room.

"Hours ago," he answered.  "Are you ok?"

"No," she stated.  "Do you think I should be friends with Ranma?"

Konatsu frowned.  "I don't know," he answered honestly.

"I still love him," her voice carried to him, tinged with sorrow.

He sighed, blinking softly.  "I know."

"Konatsu?" she stated.  "Would you let me go if I asked you to?"

Konatsu blinked, confused.  "Do you mean leave you?" he asked.

"Would you allow me to leave you?" she clarified.

The waitress held his breath.  "If it ... made you happy," Konatsu
said softly, "I would.  If you wish, I will go now."

"No, wait," she called before he could take a step back to the door.
"Thank you, Konatsu.  You're a far better friend to me than I could
ever hope to be to Ranma."

Konatsu nodded in the darkness.  "Is there anything I can do for you,
Ukyou-sama?" he asked, cautiously.

"Just stay with me," Ukyou whispered in reply.

"Ok," he said softly, settling down to the floor and making himself
comfortable.

Several moments passed in which all he could hear was his and her
breathing and the sound of his own heart.

"Um ... Konatsu?" her voice queried.

"Yes," he answered.

"I meant you should stay with me as in the restaurant," she amended,
sounding embarrassed.  "You can leave my room now."

"Oh," the waitress commented, blushing.  "Sorry."  He got up quickly
and exited the room, cursing himself for his silliness.

-----

OK.  This revision was primarily to address the issues of believability and 
coherancy of this piece.  I went through the fight scene over again and 
ended up in a different direction when I tried to keep Ranma on the 
defensive than the offensive.  It was pointed out that Ranma was getting a 
bit too out of character and I had to concede.

Akane?  OOC?  A bit too violent possibly?

As much as I'd like to say that Akane doesn't mind Ukyou wrecking the 
wedding, destroying property and being a general mean person all around, not 
to mention recent near death experiences for Akane, I simply can't.  Ranma 
may be able to blow this all off but Akane ... Akane never strikes me as a 
person to just let everything go.  Some things yes but she really has never 
blown up at Ukyou and I felt this was a high enough stress point in Akane's 
life to justify a little outburst.  Besides it's only one hit and a lot of 
swearing.  Nothing like 'Go Home'

I still have yet to hear anything from my less fortunate series Cas of Blues 
�.�  I have a feeling nobody is interested in it.  I might very well 
discontinue that after the first thirteen, or at least revamp the sequals 
into something far more tolerable.

Anyways, all comments are welcome.

Ciaow

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