Symmetry
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction

by Richard E. ( riched644@hotmail.com )

Notes:

This fanfic is a sequel to my earlier work, "Dew On The Grass".  It won't
make a whole lot of sense unless you've read that, so I suggest that if you
want to read this one you go and read that one first.  If you can't find it
just send me an email and I'll be more than happy to mail a copy to you.
Alternatively you could just grab it from my fanfic page, which is located
at:  http://www.waxwolf.com/~plucky

Thanks and stuff:

Thanks to the folks who preread the story and provided useful comments:
Reispirit, Prince Frog, Kevin D. Hammel, R. Alexander Spoerer, Ross Ledlie,
and anyone else I forgot (in no particular order).

Extra special thanks to Dot and Taper.  If it wasn't for you guys I
wouldn't have been able to write anything at all.  Thanks a million!

C&C is welcome, and encouraged.  Let me know what you think!
---

Ryouga sat quietly on a tree branch, overlooking the forest at the base 
of the mountain he was halfway up.  He wasn't exactly sure where he was - 
but then, that was nothing new to him.  The distant sun began to set on 
the horizon, seeming to set the sky on fire as he watched it sink 
slowly.  The once-blue sky faded, only to be replaced by a spectacular 
fiery orange-red aura around the sun, the clouds looking like smaller 
flames tumbling through the sky.  It looked chaotic and peaceful at the 
same time.  He smiled as he watched, the red of the evening sky a stark
contrast to the greenery of the trees below him.  Forest birds flew around
below him, their silhouetted forms drifting gracefully between him and 
the sun, their cries and the noise of crickets the only things between him 
and silence.

He dangled his legs down over the branch.  They were still tired from
all the walking he'd done that day, and for the past week since leaving 
Nerima.  At the time he'd felt an overwhelming compulsion to leave Tokyo 
and get away from the situation there, but now he was high on some nameless 
mountain somewhere in Japan and he felt a longing for Tokyo.  He'd never 
felt it before, and he knew exactly why he did feel it.

Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out a small leather wallet.  Its
edges were worn - it was bumped around a lot in his backpack as he
ran around - but other than that it was in good condition.  The black
leather was good and strong, and other than the edges it showed no
signs of wear.  He pulled it open and peered inside.  It was a simple
picture wallet; he had no need for a money wallet, he never had much
in the way of cash.  He had, however, had enough money to buy the
wallet from a merchant in Tokyo.  It had cost him almost all of the
money he'd had at the time - which wasn't much, the wallet wasn't his
only expense that time he was in Tokyo - to buy it, but a glance
at its still-excellent condition reminded him that it was worth the
extra money.  A cheaper wallet would have been worn out in his backpack
by now and would soon need replacing.  

Akane's face looked out at him from behind the transparent plastic
window in the leather.  Nabiki had sold the picture to him after he'd
overheard her talking to Kuno about them.  He'd been intrigued at the
time - it was shortly after she had adopted P-chan as her pet.  He'd
questioned her, trying to disguise his real intentions by appearing to
disapprove of her selling photos.  Eventually she showed them to him;
he reasoned that she wanted to show him that they weren't tasteless, but
he had a feeling that she knew his real reason for talking to her about
them.  She was smart like that.  At the time the thought hadn't crossed
his mind, however, and after a short time browsing he picked one and
parted with his money.  Nabiki had appeared amused by his choice of
picture.  Unlike Kuno, who tended towards pictures of her in a gi,
practicing her martial arts, Ryouga had chosen a much different type of
photograph.  It was a simple waist-and-above shot, one that Akane had
actually agreed to.  She was wearing her Furinkan uniform, smiling
pleasantly at the camera - a really cute smile, he reflected - and
holding P-chan in her arms.  She looked happy and carefree with her
pet.

He sighed as he looked at her face.  He'd been so smitten by her 
then.  So angry at Ranma any time he said anything the least bit 
disrespectful.  It felt so good to be around her.  He was sure it
was true love, if only he could convince Akane to love him as a
person and not a pig.  A small chuckle escaped him.  Looking back,
he felt embarrassed to have done the things he had.  He knew Akane
liked him as a friend, but nothing more.  The events of the last
few weeks had convinced him of that.  

His gaze shifted to the other side of the wallet.  He had to turn 
the wallet, as the second photo was taken sideways.  He hadn't 
known Nabiki had taken it, and if he had known at the time he 
probably would have destroyed the camera.  As he gazed down at it,
he was glad he didn't know at the time.  It had cost him an 
enormous amount of money - enormous by his standards, anyway.
Nabiki had agreed to let him buy it on credit terms of a sort,
which surprised him.  She knew as well as anyone else how often he
wandered away from Nerima and wasn't seen again for weeks, but
she had agreed nonetheless.  Perhaps she knew how important it 
was to him.  Perhaps she enjoyed earning interest.  The photo 
was probably originally intended as expensive blackmail 
material, so the latter was probably more likely the case.

Whatever its past and original intended use, Ryouga was glad to
have it.  It was a close-up shot of himself and Ranko on the
night Nabiki had interrupted them at the lake.  She must have
taken it only moments before emerging from the bushes; in the
photograph their lips were just beginning to touch.  It wasn't
a kiss, but it sure looked like one.  He gazed at her beautiful 
face and sighed quietly to himself.  She looked so... enthralled 
by his presence, as he did by hers.  The starlit night sky behind
them framed their faces perfectly as their slightly open mouths
touched tenderly.  It was such a magical moment, he reflected,
and he was glad to have this small memento to remind him of her.  
He felt it especially important to keep every one of his memories
of her as clearly in his mind as he could.  This was true love, he
knew.  To be so smitten by the mere memory of a girl; he wondered
if he would ever get over her.  The dull ache in his chest told
him that he probably wouldn't.  The way his hand tightly clutched 
the wallet told him he probably didn't want to.

Closing the wallet, he returned it to his backpack and looked
again at the sunset.  He'd loved her so; she was angelic.  So
kind, caring.  Forgiving.  She never got angry, she never yelled,
she listened to him, she told him things he wanted to listen
to.  She appreciated his company, she appreciated the scenery
in a park, she appreciated a sunset just like this one.  She'd
appreciated every moment of her sadly short life.  And now
he appreciated her memory, he appreciated the scenery of the
forest, and he appreciated the sunset.  He smiled a little
as he watched a bird dive down toward the treeline.  He felt
he had grown emotionally and mentally in the short time he'd
known her.  He was a stronger person, a more stable person
as a result of her.  The fact that Ranma had been able to
bring him down from the raging fury of his attack that day in 
the park was a testament to that.

He closed his eyes, realizing that he was trying to convince
himself that he was fine without her.  He knew it was foolish to
try.  He loved her with all his heart and she was gone.  It hurt
him far more than anything had ever hurt him before.  The horror
of turning into a pig paled into insignificance compared to this.
It _hurt_ him... but he would survive.  That was perhaps Ranko's
kindest gift to him.

He opened his eyes again, and hopped down from the branch.  
After landing, he stood and began to walk.  He didn't bother to
think about what direction he was walking in.  He wanted to go
to Tokyo, to visit Ranma.  It was only by returning to his 
previous habits that he would stop moping about, and talking to
Ranma again would be the best way to start.  He walked, and
continued walking.  He wanted to go to Tokyo.  He didn't know 
which way he was going, and he didn't know how long it would 
take him to get there; but he knew he was moving, and that 
was enough for him.  He would make it eventually.

* * *

Akane chewed on the end of her pencil absentmindedly.  She'd
taken to writing her thoughts down in a diary each morning a 
few days after Ranko had arrived, and was trying to keep 
herself in the habit.  She wasn't sure why she'd started doing 
it, really;  perhaps she felt the need to converse with the 
diary after finding herself unable to talk to Ranma anymore.  
No, that couldn't be it, she thought, it wasn't like she 
talked to Ranma a lot without using the words 'baka' or 
'hentai'.  Hardly the stuff of engaging conversation and deep 
thought.  She wasn't sure why she wrote in the diary, but she 
seemed to enjoy it, and that was a good enough reason for her.
She had almost two months worth of entries in it now, and
it was nice to be able to look back on them.

She looked down at the scribbled form of her mental wandering
in the pages of the diary.  It looked even more confusing on
paper than it did in her mind.  She found herself smiling.
Life was confusing; it had been ever since Ranma had first
shown up.  At least some things didn't change.

Her relationship with Ranma was something that had changed,
however, and she found her thoughts turning to it.  She'd
been thinking about it a lot lately, and the previous pages
of her diary were filled with idle thoughts and ponderances
from the last few days.  Ranma was still his usual annoying self,
she noted, but something seemed... different about him.  She
thought back to a conversation earlier in that week.  She'd
been trying on a new dress, and Ranma had noticed.

"Hey, that's a nice dress," he'd said.  She thought she had
known what was about to come next.  She'd turned to face him,
and looked at his face.  Usually after saying something like
that he would start grinning and ask what a macho jock chick
like her was doing wearing it.  She'd come to expect it over
the past few months, and moving to punch him, or kick him into
orbit, was almost a reflex action.

"You think so?" she'd asked, incredulous.  The insult always
followed, and then came the table, the frying pan, or whatever
blunt object she felt like hitting him with.  But that time,
things had been different.

"Yeah.  Makes you look, y'know... kinda cute," he'd replied,
followed by a smile.  Not a grin, not a laugh, but a smile.
A kind smile.  It had surprised her so much that she had no
idea what to say.  Her dumbfounded expression must have looked
amusing, but he didn't laugh, he just turned and walked away.

She'd often imagined him smiling like that before, and it always
looked wrong on his face.  But when he'd actually done it, it
looked like it belonged there.  It looked familiar, in a way.

She smiled at the memory.  He was kind like that now, sometimes.
His mood seemed to swing back and forth almost at random; at
times he could say kind things, at others he was the jerk she'd
come to know.  The kind moments didn't come very often, and
didn't last very long, but she knew it was better than nothing.
Maybe Ranma was growing up.

"Hey!  Cut it out, Pop!"

Or maybe not.  Akane leaned forward and looked out through her
window at the garden below.  Ranma and Genma were sparring as
usual.  Genma seemed to have the upper hand.  A kick sent his
son flying backwards, and Genma stepped forward to stand over
him as he sat on the grass rubbing his chin.

"You're getting slow, boy," he said, a hint of annoyance in
his voice, "I could have gone, eaten breakfast and come
back in the time you had to duck that kick."

Suddenly, Genma was in the air.  He arced through the air
and landed, naturally, with a splash in the koi pond.

"Maybe.  Doesn't look like you coulda made a stupid boast
in the time you had to duck THAT kick, though." Ranma replied, 
getting to his feet.  "Stupid old fool."

With a loud growl, Genma sent a wave of water crashing toward
Ranma.  It hit him full in the face, with the usual results.

"What'd you do THAT for?" Ranma shrieked, annoyed, "Now I
gotta change back again!  Geez, don't be such a sore loser."

Akane leaned back in her chair and rolled her eyes.  Another
typical day was starting at the Tendo dojo.

* * *

"Oh, my," said Kasumi as Ranma's dripping form entered the
kitchen, "I've got some water heating up for you, Ranma."

"Uh," replied Ranma, scratching the back of her head, "yeah,
thanks, Kasumi."

"Well, it will take a little while to boil, and breakfast is 
ready," came the reply, complete with smile, "why not put 
some dry clothes on, and you can change back afterwards?
You've got enough time before school."

"Yeah, sure."

She always felt embarrassed when Kasumi had to go away and
boil water to get her back to normal after her fights with
her dad in the mornings.  Kasumi never said anything out of
the ordinary, of course, but Ranma suspected she didn't
approve of the immature squabbling that happened every morning
in the garden.

Immature?

Ranma scratched her chin as she walked up the stairs.  It
wasn't immature.  It was martial arts training!  It was her
life.  Why had the word immature come to her mind?  It wasn't
immature.  Was it?

<Maybe it's a LITTLE silly,> she thought to herself as she
pulled off her shirt and pants.  After all, it's not like she
learned much by throwing Genma in the pool every day.   But
hey, it was fun!

She frowned and started pulling on some clothes.  It used to
be fun, but lately she was just irritated with Genma for bugging
her every day.  He knew he was going to lose, so why did he
start the fight in the first place?

Her frown stayed on her face as she walked back into the hallway
and headed back toward the stairs.

"Hey, Akane!" she called out as she walked down the hall, "Hurry
up with that diary writin', will ya?  Breakfast ain't gonna be
around for long with Pops down there, ya know!"

* * *

Akane closed her diary as she heard Ranma's voice call out, and
placed it into a drawer in her desk.  She didn't want to miss
breakfast; she was hungry this morning.  She closed her door
behind her as she left her room, adjusted her uniform slightly
as she walked down the hall, and turned to the stairs.  It had
only been a few moments since Ranma had called her; there should
be a fair amount of food left, even with him and Genma both
devouring it with their usual gusto.

As it turned out, she was both right and wrong.  Right in the
fact that there was a fair amount of food left, but wrong in
that Ranma was the only one eating.  Akane scratched the back
of her head as she looked over at the table.

Soun and Nabiki were both sitting silently, staring at Ranma.
Genma wasn't eating, as Akane had expected, but also sitting
in silence, holding up a sign that read "What are you doing, boy?".
She wondered what he meant, as Ranma was sitting in the usual
position at the table, eating heartily as usual.  It was only
when Kasumi wandered in carrying a kettle that her mind clicked.

"My, you're looking nice this morning, Ranma!" Kasumi chimed,
"Does this mean you won't be needing the hot water?"

"Huh?" replied Ranma, around a mouthful of food, "Of course I
need it!"

Akane looked at Ranma with wide eyes, blinking slowly as she
walked toward the table.  "Uh, Ranma...?"

"What?" replied the red-haired girl without looking up from her
food.

"Uh... what... are you wearing...?"

"Huh?" Ranma replied, looking up, "What kinda stupid question
is that?"

Akane said nothing, merely looking down at the clothes in 
question.  Ranma looked at her quizzically for a moment, then
looked down as well.

"YAAAAH!"

Ranma's food went flying as she jumped straight up in the air,
squealing wildly.  As surprised as everyone else had looked
a few moments ago, Ranma's expression of shock managed to beat
them all.

"What the heck am I wearin'?!" she cried out in dismay.

"I may be mistaken," drawled Nabiki, "but it looks like a
Furinkan High girl's uniform to me."

"I... wha...?  How did...?  Why... but... I, uh..." blubbered
Ranma, her face scarlet with embarrassment, "I didn't put 
these clothes on!"

"Who did, then?" asked Akane, folding her arms.  She was 
confused, and angry, but Ranma looked kind of funny blubbering 
around like that.

"I... uh... I *guess* I put them on... I musn't have been
paying attention or somethin'..."

"Yeah, happens to me all the time," replied Nabiki with a smirk,
"you have no idea how many times I've accidentally put on a 
black silk evening dress instead of my school uniform."

Ranma's confusion and embarrassment had by this time turned
to anger.  She fumed as she walked from the table, muttering
to herself about getting changed again.

"Ranma?" asked Kasumi as Ranma neared the stairs.

"What?"

"Do you want the hot water?"

* * *

Ranma frowned as he ran along the fence.  Akane was trying to
keep up with him, but he wasn't in the mood to talk.  He was
angry at her for embarrassing him at breakfast.

<Well, it wasn't really HER fault,> he thought to himself, <but
it sure wasn't MY fault.>  He'd just gone upstairs and changed
clothes.  He must have been distracted or something.  VERY
distracted.  He couldn't shake the image of himself wearing that
dress out of his mind, no matter how hard he tried.  It continued
to haunt him as he carried on running.  He didn't notice how
much he'd slowed down until Akane's voice broke his line of
thought.

"Hey, you jerk!" she yelled, panting, "Why were you running so
fast?"

"Aw, geez, Akane," he replied, angrily, "don't start.  I ain't
in the mood right now."

"Why are you mad at ME?  What'd *I* do?"

He stopped running, turned, and pointed an accusatory finger at
her.  "You.." he began, but paused as he realized that it wasn't
her fault at all.  Her demanding stare told him, however, that
he had better come up with a good reason for running away from
her.  He frowned, lowered his gaze a little, and mumbled a few
words.

"What?" asked Akane, folding her arms.  "What was that?"

"I said, you were gonna laugh at me!"

"What?  I was not!"

"Yeah, whatever." he snorted, "I saw your face.  You looked like
you were gonna fall on the floor and laugh your head off."

"I was NOT, you baka!"

He hopped down from the fence and started to walk away.  "See?
You can't help it.  You always gotta poke fun at me."

"Ranma, stop it!  You're not being fair!"

He stopped.  For a moment, he stood perfectly still.  Akane
wondered what he was thinking, what he was about to do.  She
was furious at him for making such stupid assumptions, but
worried about him as well.  He didn't run away like this over
stupid little arguments.  What happened this morning must have
really embarrassed him.

<Or really angered him,> she thought to herself, looking down
at his hands, hanging limp at his sides.  They were shaking
quite visibly.  <Or maybe really scared him...>

She said nothing more; she wasn't sure what to say.  Part of
her wanted to yell at him, point out what a total idiot he was
being, but she had a feeling he already knew.  His head lowered
slightly, and he turned to face her.

"Akane... I'm sorry."

"Ranma, it's all right... but what happened this morning?"

"I don't know.  I just... got dressed like normal.  I wasn't
even payin' attention, I just threw some clothes on and
came downstairs."

"You can't just throw a dress on, Ranma," she replied, a smile
coming to her face as she thought it through, "it takes more
than that, doesn't it?  You have to put it on properly and
make sure it's zipped up in the back and everything.  It's
not exactly the kind of thing you do accidentally!"

"I know," he replied, simply.

"What were you even DOING with a girl's uniform anyway?  I'm not
sure if I even want to know!"

"I borrowed it back when I was... y'know."

"Oh..." replied Akane, quietly.  Ranko had borrowed one of Kasumi's
old school uniforms, since they were the only ones that fit her. "But 
didn't you give that back to Kasumi?"

He shook his head.  "I didn't even think about it after... what
happened.  I kinda forgot about it... 'til today, that is.  I mean,
it's not like Kasumi needed it."

"You must have been pretty embarrassed."

He nodded.

"Don't worry, Ranma.  Nobody thought it was funny."

"Except Nabiki," he snorted, "I guess I should count myself
lucky she didn't have her camera with her."

"Well... you know what she's like."

"I know," he began, and looked up at her.  The expression on
his face was one Akane instantly felt familiar with.  Her mouth
opened slightly, but no words came out.  They stared at each
other in silence for a few moments, before Ranma decided what
he wanted to say.  Or, at least, what he didn't want to say.

"I'm goin' to school now."

"O...okay." replied Akane.  She watched as he turned and walked
away.  Chewing her lip, she thought back on what he said, and
the expression on his face.  It was several minutes later that
she too began walking toward school.

* * *

As the day went on, Akane's thoughts about Ranma were pushed to
the back of her mind by the more immediate academic problems being
presented to her.  She concentrated and worked hard; it had, like
her diary writing, become something of a habit lately.

Ranma was also quiet; he seemed to be working just as hard as she
was.  This made her somewhat curious, but she put it aside and
continued with her work.  She'd felt, a few weeks back, that her
studies were playing second fiddle to her martial arts practice;
with her recent improvement in study habits, she felt that her
physical and mental development were more balanced, and that was
important to maintain.

The lunch bell came quickly for her.  However, it seemed Ranma
was anxious for its arrival; as soon as the bell rang he rushed out
through the door.

<He must be hungry,> she thought to herself as she stood, <although
I can't imagine HOW, after the amount of food he ate this morning.>
Picking up her books, she walked toward the door.  Ranma was nowhere
to be seen as she poked her head out into the hallway.  <I sure wish 
he'd thought to wait for me.  He's so inconsiderate sometimes!>

* * *

It was several minutes later that Akane finally found Ranma, in
female form, sitting beside a tree in the school grounds.  She
seemed to be watching a softball game that was happening nearby,
and chewing on a sandwich.

"Hi, Akane," she said, smiling, as she saw Akane's approach.  She 
shuffled over a little and patted the grass next to her, "Come sit 
down with me.  Do you want some of this sandwich?  It's really tasty."

"No thanks," replied Akane, sitting next to her, "I'm not really hungry.  
Where'd you run off to in such a hurry?"

"Did I?  I don't.." Ranma began, then stopped and put her hand to her 
mouth.  "Oh, that's right!  I was in a hurry, wasn't I?"

Akane nodded, giving Ranma a strange look.  "You were... are you feeling 
okay?"

"Hmm?  Oh, yes!  I'm fine.  You shouldn't worry about me so much!  I was 
hungry, that's right... I remember I was in a rush because I was hungry."

Akane blinked a few times, but said nothing.

"I ran around a corner," Ranma continued, "and ran into a boy standing 
in the hallway with a bucket of water.  Poor thing looked like a scared 
rabbit.  I was sort of mad at him, but he looked like he was afraid I'd 
bite his head off.  Silly, really." 

Akane remained in silence, staring at the Kasumi-like smile on Ranma's
face as she told her story.

"He seemed genuinely frightened of me!  He tried to back away and fell 
over the bucket.  I helped him up, of course, and apologized to him for
running into him.  His teacher came out to see what all the noise was, 
and I explained what had happened. I was embarrassed - it really was 
quite clumsy of me - but after I told him what had happened, he looked 
just as timid as his student did.  I didn't really understand why they 
were so surprised; none of my business, I suppose.  I apologized again 
and left.  By that time I wasn't feeling very hungry anymore, so I went
and dried myself off, bought a sandwich, and came here to enjoy the
sunny weather.  Then you came along!  How about you?  How has your 
lunchtime been, Akane?"

Akane shuffled backwards, staring at the girl before her.  She searched
for words, but none would come to her.  Slack-jawed silence was all she 
could manage.  Her wide-eyed expression of surprise didn't go unnoticed.

"Are you all right, Akane?"

"R..Ranko?" Akane finally managed to stammer out, as the power of speech 
returned to her. 

Ranko smiled and laughed softly, putting her sandwich back into its bag, 
folding the bag, and placing it neatly on the grass below her; all in a 
manner befitting Kasumi. "Of course it's me, Akane!  Who were you 
expecting?"

"But I... we... the neko-ken..."

"Oh, my," Ranko replied, an expression of concern coming over her face, 
"you  sound confused, Akane.  Are you all right?  Perhaps you should see
Dr. Tofu this afternoon."

Suddenly, Akane jumped to her feet.  Ranko, startled, looked up at her in 
surprise.  The expression of surprise was gone from Akane's face, replaced 
by a mixture of anger and determination.

"No.  We're going to see Dr. Tofu RIGHT NOW.  C'mon, you're coming with 
me!"

* * *

"Physically, she's fine," said Dr. Tofu, scratching his chin.  

Akane sat in front of his desk, shaking her head as she rested it on 
her hands.  How could Ranko be back?  She'd gone... faded away when the
neko-ken bought Ranma back.  She hadn't been heard from since!  Why
did she suddenly come back?  What forced the change?  Would she have
to wait it out again like last time?  And would it happen again?

These and a million other questions raced through her mind, but she
knew she had no answers, and it didn't look like Dr. Tofu did either.

"When did the change happen?"

"Earlier today," Akane replied, her voice quiet, "he was fine this
morning, but when I caught up with him at lunchtime... he was like
that."

"Was he behaving any differently than usual before that?  Since
Ranko last left, I mean?"

"Well... yeah, kinda.  Sometimes.  He's been more patient, sometimes
he says nice things without turning them into jokes, things like
that.  I assumed it was just him finally growing up."

"Hmm... interesting.  I've talked to her, asked her about herself.  
Other than a bit of confusion over why I was asking her such things, 
she looks and sounds like a perfectly healthy young woman."

"Young MAN, Tofu-sensei!  He's a guy!"

The doctor shook his head.  "Right now, Ranma wholeheartedly believes
she is a girl.  And, quite frankly, the physical evidence is quite
hard for her to ignore."

"So just splash him with hot water!"

"No," he replied, again shaking his head, "I don't know what that
kind of shock would do to her right now.  Mentally she's somewhat...
volatile.  She's confused, and probably afraid at what's going on.
In fact, the only thing she DOES know for sure is that she is a
girl.  It seems more strongly etched into her mind than any other
thought."

"So what do I do?  Do I have to wait it out?  What if it happens
again?  What if it's permanent?  There's got to be something you
can do!"

"Right now, I don't want to do anything.  Her mental condition
is still fragile; at a guess I'd say that's because of the shock of
the changeover.  What she needs most right now is to be treated 
normally."

Akane looked up at him in silence.  She didn't know what to say;
she wanted to say something that would make him turn Ranko back into
a guy and give Ranma back to her, but she knew there was nothing she
could say to do that.  Her eyes softened, and her gaze returned to
her lap.

"In a day or two, we can look at her again and try to find out what
exactly is going on inside her mind.  I don't know if I'll be able
to do much, Akane - I'm a chiropractor, not a psychiatrist."

"So - what now?  I just take him home?  That's it?"

"No... there's something I'd like you to do before you go."

* * *

Ranko looked around the doctor's office.  It had certainly been a
long time since Dr. Tofu had left.  He'd asked her a lot of questions;
she wondered why, since it was Akane who seemed so confused.  He seemed
like a nice enough man, but why had he left her in here for so long?
She felt herself growing irritated.  She wasn't sure why, but she
could definitely feel it inside her; like a small spark growing into
a flame.  She frowned at herself.

In an attempt to take her mind off things, she thought back to more
pleasant times.  The past few weeks had been so steadfastly ordinary,
she thought to herself.  The usual routine.  Schoolwork and homework.
Her life had been so exciting at first...

<I sure wish Ryouga was here,> she thought to herself, wistfully.
<He'd make everything all right.>  She closed her eyes and sighed,
a smile coming to her face as she remembered him.  Life had been
so exciting; her love for him, his love for her, the happiness they
shared in their moments together, the warmth he had brought to her
life.  He'd left to go on a training trip several weeks ago.  She
respected the martial arts he believed so highly in, but it saddened
her to be without him for so long.  Sadness wasn't the only emotion
she felt as she thought about that; she felt the irritation she'd
been trying to forget flaring up again.

With a suddenness that surprised her, her fist slammed down on the
table in front of her.

"Why is he TAKING SO LONG?" she asked of nobody in particular.  It
was a moment later that she realized the door had opened, and Dr.
Tofu was standing in front of her.

"I'm sorry for the wait, Ranko," he said, one eyebrow arched.

"Oh!  Tofu-sensei!" she gasped, jumping to her feet.  Her face
burned bright red with embarrassment at her outburst.  "I... I'm 
sorry!  I didn't mean to lose my temper.  I don't know what came 
over me."

"That's quite all right," he said, stepping into the room, Akane
behind him, "no need to apologize."

He looked more interested than angry or surprised, Ranko noted
as she sat down again, bowing her head.  "Thank you.  I... I
won't do it again."  With her gaze fixed firmly on the table
in front of her, Ranko didn't notice the sadness in Akane's
eyes.

"I've been talking with Akane," Tofu said as he and Akane sat 
down in front of her.

"Is she all right?" Ranko asked, looking up, her eyes showing
genuine concern.  "She seemed to be acting strangely this
afternoon."

"Yes, she's fine," Tofu replied, "but I'm a little worried about
short term memory loss.  What I'd like you to do is tell her what
happened today, to see how much she can remember."

"Of course!  I'll be glad to help Akane," Ranko answered, her
smile returning to her face.  "Where would you like me to begin?"

"At the beginning, if you would."

"Certainly," Ranko replied, her happy expression spreading from
just her mouth to her whole face.  She was happy to help and felt
useful in helping Akane remember the day.  "Well, let me see..."

"Don't go into too much detail, Ranko," noted Tofu, "just tell us
the major things."

"All right," Ranko nodded, clasping her hands together in her
lap, "I woke up this morning, washed, and dressed as usual."

"Did you have a bath this morning?"

"Of course not," Ranko replied, laughing softly, "the furo had
hot water in it, and..."

"And...?"

"And, well," Ranko continued, starting to blush, "I can't bathe
in hot water... because of... you know."

"The curse, of course," Akane replied, nodding.  Ranko smiled and
nodded.

"Yes, the curse!  I have to wash with cold water." Ranko said,
glad to see Akane remembered.  "After my wash I dressed in my uniform
and went downstairs for breakfast."

"But if you dressed in your school uniform," Akane interrupted, "why
aren't you wearing it now?"

"It's kind of embarrassing..." Ranko began, blushing.

"Go on, it's all right," replied Tofu, encouragingly.

"Well... I was eating breakfast as usual, but then I noticed everyone
was staring at me.  I didn't know why at first, but when I looked down
I noticed a huge spider was crawling across my lap!  I'm not usually
frightened of spiders, but it just gave me such a surprise..."

Akane's blank look told her she should continue.

"It surprised me so much I jumped straight up in the air.  I knocked 
the table, and food went flying everywhere," she continued, blushing,
"including on me.  My uniform was a mess, so I went upstairs and
changed."

Tofu looked over at Akane, who hesitantly nodded.

Ranko looked down at the silk shirt and black trousers she was wearing.
"These aren't ideal clothes; more like the kind of thing Ranma would wear,
but all of my dresses were waiting to be washed; I was going to help
Kasumi do the laundry after school, in fact."

"Then what?" asked Tofu.  Akane was feeling better now, after hearing
Ranko mention Ranma.  At least that didn't mean she'd totally forgotten
him.

"Well, after that we left for school.  I was embarrassed to walk with
Akane because of my accident at breakfast, but she didn't laugh at me,
and I was glad for that.  It was such a lovely morning, I was happy that
I didn't spoil it by spilling breakfast."

"What then?  What about school?" asked Akane, quietly.

"Well... classes were no different to usual.  I enjoyed the trigonometry
we did this morning.  For some reason I was really quite hungry by
lunchtime, though; probably because I spilled half of my breakfast
instead of eating it," Ranko said, with a small laugh.  "It's really not
been my day today - two accidents by lunchtime.  I was rushing toward the
cafeteria; I shouldn't have been running in the hallway, but I was really
quite hungry.  I came around a corner, and accidentally ran into a boy
holding a bucket of water outside his class..."

* * *

Akane walked slowly alongside Ranko, who seemed to be gazing peacefully
ahead.  She wondered what was going on inside the redheaded girl's mind.

Dr. Tofu had been impressed by the complexity of the memory that Ranko's
subconscious had created; it allowed for each of the major events of the
day in a perfectly logical fashion - bending the circumstances and events
to make them logical if Ranko had been there instead of Ranma.  Ranko
herself still seemed a little... out of it; she hummed gently to herself
as the pair walked home.  Delusional was the word Dr. Tofu had used to
describe her.  She certainly seemed in a world of her own.

<At least she remembers Ranma,> Akane thought to herself as she looked
over at Ranko, <that's got to be a good sign.  Tofu-sensei said to treat
her normally... I'd better take her aside somewhere while I explain
this to Father.>

She sighed softly and returned her gaze to the road in front of her;
Ranko didn't seem to notice.  Clutching her schoolbag more tightly, Akane
found herself scowling.  <Why did this have to happen AGAIN?>

* * *

Ryouga rubbed his stomach idly as he walked through a nameless street.
His supply of money was running pitifully low - not that he'd be able
to buy a meal in the small hours of the morning, anyway.  Food would
have to wait.  The city around him looked familiar; then again, he'd 
been through most cities often enough for them all to have a certain 
degree of familiarity.

The noise of his footfalls on the concrete below him was the only 
thing penetrating the silence.  He pondered idly how strange it was
to be in such a large city and to hear no sounds.  He'd been through
deserts and ice fields that made more noise than this.  Somewhere
off in the distance, a cat wailed; a dog barked loudly a moment
later.  Another dog joined in, then another.  They seemed to take
turns, barking one after the other.  A few shouted requests for
quiet from annoyed homeowners disrupted the canine conversation,
however, and soon it was silent again.  

The cold night air reminded him of his treks across mountaintops,
and he turned his head to the sky, wondering if he could catch a 
glimpse of the same stars he'd spent hours gazing at from the
rocky peaks.  A thick veil of dark clouds hung low over the
city, however; there would be no stargazing for him tonight.  In
fact, he pondered, he would need to find shelter soon.  Umbrella
or no, he didn't enjoy walking in the rain.

<Great,> he thought to himself with a sigh, <out alone, in the
cold.  No food to eat, no place to sleep, and it's about to
rain.  Just great.  At least in the forest there's always food
to eat... damned cities.>

Such negative thoughts quickly left him as he caught sight of
something familiar.  He was lucky to have noticed it - he'd
only seen it in his peripheral vision.  If he hadn't been
looking up to see the sky at the time, he might have missed
it entirely.  

He had been looking up, however, and he had seen it.  Rushing
over to it, he held his arms up toward it and let out a 
silent laugh of triumph.  Even without the light of the moon
to see by, it was light enough for him to clearly make out
the writing on the sign.

<At last!  The Tendo dojo!>

* * *

Outside the dojo, Ryouga peered in.  He had been careful to be
quiet as he crept around the house, and it seemed that nobody had
heard him.  He was glad; he didn't really want to explain why he
was sneaking around there in the middle of the night.

Ranma slept, facing away from her observer.  He was in female 
form, Ryouga noticed, which struck him as a little odd.  Ranma 
hated to be in his female form; Ryouga wondered why he hadn't 
changed back before going to bed.  

Ranma rolled over to face him, and a gasp escaped him.  He mentally
cursed for allowing himself to make the noise; he was lucky that he
hadn't woken her and her father.  His anger quickly passed, however, 
and he stared at her face - the reason for his gasp.  It had been 
weeks since he'd seen her in person, but she was even more beautiful 
than he remembered.  Even the photograph he had barely did justice 
to the beauty that seemed to radiate from her face.  

<My Ranko,> he thought to himself, a smile coming to his face.  It
was quickly replaced by a frown.  Shaking his head, Ryouga tried
to move such thoughts out of his mind.  Ranko was gone; only Ranma
remained.  He didn't love Ranma.  He couldn't ever love Ranma,
even if he had the body of his beloved Ranko.  However, as he
stared at her, lost in peaceful sleep, he found himself having
difficulty focusing on the difference between the two.

She pulled her blanket over her shoulders, and Ryouga noticed she
was clutching a pillow tightly in front of her.  She squeezed it
tightly, resting her head on the corner nearest her face.  As he
peered more closely, Ryouga noticed she was rubbing her head up and
down against the fabric of the pillow; a strange gesture, but one
he found immediately endearing.

<She's so beautiful,> he thought to himself, gazing longingly at 
her.  His instincts told him to rush in and hold her tightly in 
his arms, to kiss her and tell her how much he missed her.  

<How much I still do miss her,> he thought to himself, with a mental
sigh.  <Ranko is gone, and this isn't helping.>

He stepped back from the dojo into the garden, and realized he was
holding his breath.  He exhaled; his breath condensed as it combined
with the air around him.  Turning from the dojo, he began to walk 
away.  Waking Ranma in the middle of the night would not be a 
smart move; waking Ranma in the middle of the night by kissing 
him would be a suicidal one.  

No, he decided, he would come back later and talk to Ranma.  In
the meantime, he had to find somewhere to sleep; preferably not out
in the cold night air.  A drop of rain hit the back of his neck.
Instinctively, he reached for his umbrella and pulled it open above
his head.  Rain.  That definitely ruled out sleeping outside.  He
walked out through the front gate, the sounds of his footfalls on
the concrete and the patter of the rain on his umbrella the only
sounds penetrating the silence.  He would return later.

* * *

The sky brightened as the sun began to peek over the horizon.  There
was a moderate fog on this particular morning; the night had been
long and cold.  As the sun's rays crept inevitably forward to embrace
Tokyo, they bought warmth with them; soon the fog began to lift.  It
would be gone by the time anyone was awake.

Almost anyone.  The door of the Tendo dojo had been left slightly
open by the visitor of several hours ago, and a thin crack of light
extended slowly across the floor as the sun rose through the sky.
Ranko was laying directly in its path; slowly, eventually, it crept to
her face and across her eyes.  The change in light was enough to
wake her; her eyes squinted almost immediately upon opening.  They
did not need to squint for long, however.  Within seconds of waking,
Ranko sat bolt upright, her eyes wide, her hand over her mouth.

"Oh... my."

* * *

Akane's diary remained unopened as she dressed - this morning, there
were more important matters to tend to.  She had written in it last
night.  It was the first time she'd ever written twice in one day.

She'd read over it before going to sleep the previous night.  The 
second entry was more similar to the first than she had initially
thought.  Both contained more questions than answers.

Zipping the back of her dress, she leaned over her desk and looked
out through the window.  The garden was empty this morning; there
was no sparring session.  Naturally.  Part of her had hoped there
would be - it would mean this was all just a dream.

* * *

Breakfast was a solemn affair.  Ranko was not present - Genma mentioned
that she was sitting in the dojo when he checked in on her, and had 
refused to come with him for breakfast.  Refused was probably too 
strong a word, he'd added, she'd merely looked at him and said she 
didn't feel like breakfast.  She'd smiled afterwards, of course; Ranko 
always did.  But even Genma could see that something was wrong.

After Genma's initial comments, breakfast passed in silence.  Afterwards,
Akane watched Soun and Genma move over to the shogi board as usual, but 
neither of them seemed to be in a particular hurry to make a move.  She,
on the other hand, did make a move.  Stepping through the kitchen, she 
walked out toward the dojo, pulled the door open, and stepped inside.

* * *

"Ranko?"

"Good morning, Akane," came the reply.  Akane whirled to see Ranko sitting
in a corner of the dojo, her legs pressed up against her chest, arms
wrapped around her knees.  She looked upset, but even so, had been polite.
That was just her way.

Akane stepped over to her.  "How are you feeling this morning?"

Ranko didn't look up.  Instead, she continued to gaze at her knees.  Akane
noticed goosebumps on Ranko's arms, and a slight shiver in her body.  The
sun warmed the air outside, but inside the dojo it had remained cold.

"When did I come back?" 

The suddenness of the question surprised Akane.  Her own question had been
ignored, and she hesitated in her reply.

"Please, Akane.  The truth," added Ranko, noticing Akane's hesitation.

Akane bit her lip, remembering Dr. Tofu's words.  He'd warned her about
talking about it too early, but she felt somehow that telling Ranko the
truth about it was important.

"Yesterday.  Yesterday, at lunch," she answered, at length.

"I... I don't..." Ranko tried, then closed her mouth and sighed.

Akane, noting Ranko's apparent distress, kneeled down in front of the
girl and placed her hand gently on the cold skin of one arm.  "You
don't what?"

"I don't... remember very well... so cold in there..."

Bringing her hand down to Ranko's, she squeezed gently, comfortingly.
Ranko lifted her head slightly and looked at Akane, her face a mask of
confusion.

"You were... gone, for over a month.  What do you remember?"

"Yesterday... kind of hazy.  It was like I woke up suddenly; there was
a boy there, holding an empty bucket.  He looked so scared - I didn't
know why.  Then it hit me, just like that, I knew I'd run into him...
but it wasn't me, was it?  It was..."

"Ranma." Akane finished.

"Yeah... Ranma," Ranko nodded.  Realization seemed to flash in her eyes,
her hands grabbing Akane's and gripping tightly, "Ranma!  Oh... Akane!
I'm sorry!  I didn't... I didn't mean to take him from you!"

Akane looked down at the floor and said nothing.  She wanted to say it
was all right, but she *was* angry; if not at Ranko, then at Ranma for
disappearing in the first place.  

"It's not your fault," she said, at length, "don't feel guilty about
it."

"I..." Ranko began, then stopped.  Her eyes caught Akane's, and for
the first time that morning, she no longer felt cold.  "I'll try
not to."

Akane managed a smile, and stood.  "C'mon.  We should probably
see Tofu-sensei."

"Akane," replied Ranko, looking up.  She reached up and brushed
her fringe from her eyes, but made no motion to stand.  She looked
down at herself, then looked up again, clasping her hands together.
"Can I ask a question?"

"Sure," replied Akane, curious.

"Has..." Ranko began, stopping as she felt her cheeks begin to
flush.  She looked down again, her face reddening slightly as she
thought the question through.  Eventually, however, she managed
to ask.

"While I was Ranma did Ryouga... come back?"

* * *

Akane turned to look behind her, folding her arms.  She was trying
not to get angry, but she couldn't help it.  They'd left home well
over ten minutes ago and were barely a quarter of the way to Dr.
Tofu's clinic.  They'd started out all right, but soon Akane found
Ranko lagging behind, and from that point on she'd had to turn 
every few moments and remind the redheaded girl that it wasn't
a sightseeing trip.

This time, Ranko was leaning on a fence, looking out over the
city.  She seemed deep in thought, and didn't respond to Akane's
calls.  Akane frowned, and walked toward her.

"Hey, Ranko!" she called, stepping up to the fence, "Come on!  At
this rate the clinic'll be closed before we even get there."

"Sorry, Akane," Ranko replied, her gaze not moving, "I don't mean
to dawdle.  It's just so beautiful, I can't help but stare."

"What is?" asked Akane, looking out over the fence, "It's just some
buildings."

"Try spending a month in a room painted entirely in black and see 
if you say the same thing." replied Ranko, the corner of her mouth 
twisted up in a bitter smirk.  It quickly disappeared, and Ranko 
looked over at Akane.  "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said that.  It 
just came out before I could think about it."

"That's all right," replied Akane, giving a small smile, "I understand."

"I'd almost forgotten how wonderful it is here," Ranko stated, after
a pause.

"Wonderful?"

A nod.  "The sights, the sounds.  The way the birds sing in the
morning.  The sunlight reflecting off the water of the koi pond.  The
sound of someone's voice.  It's all beautiful in its way."

Akane said nothing, merely looking at Ranko's face.

"The sunlight feels so warm, and the fresh air... it feels wonderful.
And the morning dew," she said, with a smile, "when we left the dojo
I saw it again.  Beautiful."

Akane began to smile, and placed her hand on Ranko's.  "You're right.
I guess it's easy to take stuff like that for granted."

"Too easy," Ranko said, nodding, "people seem to forget about it.
They get so caught up in their lives they never stop to smell the
roses.  Tokyo is a beautiful place; it's a beautiful day.  Even the
people who rush around working so hard all day are beautiful too,
in their own way.

"And you're beautiful too," she concluded, turning her head to look
at Akane.  She smiled warmly, a smile that made Akane both flush
with embarrassment and smile with happiness.  It amazed Akane how
Ranko could be so positive after what she must have been through.
She wished Ranma was able to say such things.  She wished Ranma
was _with_ her to say such things.

Ranko turned to look out over the fence again; the moment passed.
Akane gripped Ranko's hand more tightly and tugged.  "C'mon, we
should get going."

"All right," said Ranko, with a smile, "let's go."

She turned and took a step away, but felt herself being pulled
back.  She frowned a little as she realized Ranko wasn't walking
with her.  She pulled again, but still Ranko didn't step away from
the fence.

"What's with all the tuggin', Akane?  You tryin' to pull my arm
off or something?"

Akane blinked, then whirled around.  Ranko stood before her, one hand 
in hers, the other on her own hip.  The smile that had been there a 
few moments ago was replaced with a curious frown.

"Ranma?!"

* * *

"Aw, geez, Akane, I wish you'd quit goin' on about it."

"Doesn't it WORRY you?!" exclaimed Akane, in disbelief.  She jogged
forward a couple of steps to pull ahead of Ranma as the redhead walked 
along the fence.  It had happened so quickly; one moment she was 
talking to Ranko, the next Ranma was there looking disdainfully at 
her.  Just like that.

And Ranma didn't care!  Akane thought that Ranma of all people would
be very worried about actually *being* a girl part of the time.  At
least the Jusenkyo curse left him in control of his body, but this
was different!  She should be having to rush to keep up with Ranma as
she raced to Dr. Tofu's office, but here she was walking with her
as she marched nonchalantly away from that very place.

"Why would it worry me?  It was just, I dunno, an aftershock or
somethin'."

"I can't believe you're being so flippant about this!"

"Geez, Akane, quit makin' such a big deal outta it!  Forget about it.  
I'm fine."

"You idiot!" she cried, throwing her arms up in exasperation, "You've 
got another person living inside you and you're just shrugging it 
off?  That is STUPID!"

"Akane, would you--"

"And SELFISH!"

"Akane!" Ranma yelled, turning to face her.  She jumped down from 
the fence and glared, "Just shut up!  Shut up!  All right?  I don't 
wanna hear about it!  It ain't got nothin' to do with you!"

Akane stared at her, wide-eyed.  She was surprised by the outburst,
and could feel anger building inside herself.  What was this
idiot DOING?  Why was Ranma being so defensive?

Ranma's face softened; she looked down at the ground, then back
up at Akane's face.  Placing one hand on her hip, she reached
back and scratched behind her head.

"Look, Akane," she began, softly, "I'm sorry for yelling like
that.  It's just... I don't think what happened is very important.
And right now all I wanna do is go home, change back into my proper
body, and sit down for a while.  Okay?"

"But..."

"Just give me some peace for a while, okay?" she said, and sighed,
"I guess we can talk about it later if you really gotta."

Akane nodded.  Ranma did have a point.  It wasn't really fair to
hassle her so much about it so soon after changing.  "All right."

Turning, Ranma continued walking toward home.  Akane had only been
concerned about her, and she'd responded by lashing out.  She 
shouldn't have, but she did.  She was indeed worried... very worried.

* * *

Ryouga frowned as he rounded a corner.  This street looked familiar;
his memory told him he'd walked down it an hour or so ago.  

<Why can nobody in this city give decent directions?!> he thought,
growling.  <At least I'm still in Tokyo, that's something at least.>
He'd been wandering around all day, and for two days before that;
after leaving the Tendo residence he'd eventually found a shop
doorway to curl up in, providing some shelter from the rain.  After
the night - and the rain - had passed, he had returned to the Tendo
house.  Or at least tried to.  Three days had passed since then, and
he had only succeeded in going on a rambling tour through Tokyo.

Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out an apple and began to
chew on it.  It wasn't the freshest apple he'd ever eaten - it 
had been in his backpack for a day now - but it tasted good.  It
was lucky for him that he'd stumbled across a street market during
his travels through the city and had enough money to buy several
apples to eat.

His stomach rumbled as he swallowed.  He could easily eat all of
the apples in his backpack, but he had no other food, and didn't
know when he would be able to get more.  He finished his apple,
and tossed the core aside.  One would do for now.

He ignored his stomach as it rumbled again, and continued walking.
His shadow stretched out before him; the sun was setting.  Soon
it would be four days of wandering around.  Something made his
mind flash back to his duel with Ranma so long ago.  It had taken
him four days to find the right place, and by then it was too
late.  Shaking his head, he picked up the pace and marched off
in whichever direction it was that he was facing.

* * *

Ranma whirled in a full circle and brought the back of his left fist 
sharply to the head of his opponent.  His eyes were closed, his body 
operating on instinct alone.  He'd lost count of how many blows he'd 
delivered, all he knew was that each one had struck its target 
perfectly.  

His right hand swung quickly under his left arm as it pulled back from
the head, his fist impacting with a powerful uppercut to the stomach,
followed by a jab from his left to the chest; another jab from the
right - an instant later, the punches were flowing immeasurably fast.
Ranma himself couldn't keep count of them as his fists flew; the
dull thuds of the impacts blurring together into a continuous thrum.

A kick to the groin followed, then an elbow to the face.  Ranma spun
quickly as the elbow impacted; his other arm wrapped around the waist
and lifted for a simple throw.

However, the training dummy wasn't quite up to it; it ripped in half
as Ranma tugged, sending a cloud of sawdust flying.  Coughing, Ranma
stepped away, dropping the half he was holding as his eyes opened.  He
couldn't help but smile.  That had felt good.

Training helped him to concentrate on the Art, and forget about the
distractions of the outside world.  Well, he reflected, it was the
inside world that was providing the distractions.  He didn't know
what it was that had triggered Ranko's recent return, but he knew
that he didn't want it to happen again.  She'd had an impact on him
the first time around; a good impact, he knew, but he couldn't deal
with a girl taking over his body.  It was HIS body, not hers.  He
didn't dislike her.  He couldn't dislike her.  He'd found a new
patience since her arrival; it was like a new martial arts technique,
one that he wasn't very good at yet, but it was coming along.

In a way, Ranko was an emotional sensei for him.  He vaguely remembered
the events of her visits, and could learn the emotional control 
she made look so easy.  There were, however, some things
he did not want to learn.

"Not bad," came a voice, "for a training dummy."

Ranma turned, the a smirk coming to his face.  He knew that voice,
and that kind of taunt at his fighting abilities.

"Hey, Ryouga." he called, stepping over to the door of the dojo, 
"Long time no see!  You finally found your way back, huh?"

"Yeah," came the reply, quietly, "took me longer than I thought it 
would."

"Y'know, that ain't much of a surprise."

Ryouga extended his hand; Ranma took it shook somewhat warily, 
almost expecting to be thrown through the air into one of the
dojo walls.

"So how was your trip?"

Ryouga thought for a moment.  "Enlightening.  I've come back to 
talk to you."

There was a pause.  Ranma looked uneasy, Ryouga noticed.  Placing
his backpack on the floor, he folded his arms and waited for a
response.  After a few moments, it came.

"You gotta be hungry.  Want something to eat?  We can talk later." 

"That'd be great," Ryouga answered, honestly.  He was indeed very
hungry; the prospect of a proper meal was a good one indeed. 

"C'mon," grinned Ranma, "Kasumi said somethin' about making some
sushi tonight.  If we hurry, we can get there before Pops eats
it."

* * *

Ryouga sat down, stretching his legs out in front of him.  He'd
been sitting at the table for a long time - it had been a good
meal - and it felt good to stretch out.  Ranma was already sitting
nearby, rubbing his stomach, looking very pleased with himself.

"Man, Kasumi sure knows how to make a meal," he said, flashing a
wolfish grin.  

Ryouga closed his eyes.  Food and martial arts.  That's all Ranma
ever thought about.  Still, he was right, it was a good meal.  A
great meal, in fact.  The fact that he'd had little to eat but
berries and apples for the past month only helped him appreciate
it that much more.  Kasumi was indeed wonderful in the kitchen.

Ranma leaned back onto his elbows and looked over at Ryouga,
the silence making him curious.  Eventually Ryouga nodded, and
Ranma lay back completely, putting his hands together on his
stomach.  It was once again night, the gibbous moon occasionally
winking at them from behind the dark clouds.

"You wanted to say somethin'?" asked Ranma, watching the moon.
Ryouga nodded, but said nothing.  Ranma looked over at him 
momentarily, then returned his gaze to the sky.  He knew
Ryouga would talk when he was ready.  However, in the meantime
that left them in silence.

"The stars are beautiful, aren't they?" noted Ryouga, after
a time.

"Huh?" replied Ranma, blinking, "Oh... yeah, I guess."

"An endless ocean of stars," Ryouga continued, tilting his
head back to look up, "stretching as far as the imagination
dares dream."

"...I guess..." offered Ranma, hesitantly.  He wasn't sure
what to say; Ryouga was weirding him out.

"I often watch the stars when I'm out in the forest.  They
help me think.  Look at them all!  Millions.  Billions.  If
you look long enough you can see all sorts of patterns."

Ranma said nothing.

"They all look like they're pretty close together to you and
me, but we're much too far away to understand.  If you got
close enough you'd see that every star is alone, drifting
through the universe with no inkling of where they're going."

"I can see why you'd relate to 'em," noted Ranma, a wide
smile on his face.  Ryouga ignored it.

"I spent hours and hours in the forests staring up at them,
wondering where they came from, wondering where they're
going.  I still do, from time to time.  I never told anyone,
of course; it's just a fantasy I fill the nights with when
I'm alone."

"You told Ranko, right?" asked Ranma, casually.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I didn't need to," Ryouga whispered, "she knew."

A pause followed, Ranma and Ryouga both looking up at the stars.
Ranma sat up, then tucked his legs up against his chest.  Biting
his lower lip, he looked over at Ryouga.

"Hey, Ryouga?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Why don't you hate me?"

"I don't know."

"I mean, you hated me when I swiped that bread, you hated me 
when I turned ya into a pig, and you hated me coz I'm engaged 
to Akane.  Why don't you hate me for taking Ranko away?"

"You really want to know?" replied Ryouga, after a moment.

"Yeah."

"Because," Ryouga continued, turning to look at Ranma, "because...
well... you really sure you want to know?"

"'course I am, baka!"

"All right, I'll tell you.  It's because you're still Ranko.  You
might be Ranma again, but I can see her in your eyes."

"What?  I'm a guy!  What the hell kind of stupid thing is that
to say?"

"You asked, I told you."

"And I'm tellin' you you're crazy.  Geez."

"I hoped you'd understand," said Ryouga, his eyes softening,
"I guess I was wrong."  He turned his head away from Ranma
and looked away with a sigh.

"Aw, geez."

"I think I should leave."

Ryouga stood and stepped toward the edge of the roof.  With
a surprising urgency, Ranma called out after him.

"Ryouga, wait!  Don't go."

"It was stupid to come back."

"Stay, would ya?  Please?  Come on.  At least stay long enough
for a practice session in the dojo," Ranma tried.  He knew Ryouga
loved the martial arts as much as he did.  If anything was 
going to make him stay, martial arts would be it.  After a 
moment's hesitation, he proved Ranma right.

"All right."

* * *

The pair faced off against each other, and with a brief bow,
the exercise was begun.  Ranma leaned forward in an aggressive
stance; Ryouga seemed to be holding his body back in a 
defensive posture.

Ryouga seemed to be in no rush to start the combat; it was
a change from his usual rushed fighting style, and the switch
distracted Ranma slightly.  His mind wandered, despite his 
efforts to stay focused.  

<What if he's holding back,> Ranma thought, frowning, <because
he thinks I'm a girl?>  With a snarl, he leapt forward at
his opponent, bringing his leg up in mid-jump for a kick.
<I'll show him just how wrong he is!>

Ranma was surprised as Ryouga ducked his kick, appearing
on the other side of his leg a moment later.  He quickly
fired off a pair of punches, his fists darting toward Ryouga's
chest.  The dull thud of Ryouga's forearms as they blocked
his punches didn't surprise him nearly as much as the sudden
force of Ryouga pushing him back - pushing, not punching.

<Since when is he faster than me?!> Ranma's mind cried, as
he wobbled back a couple of steps.  He quickly planted one
of his feet behind him and regained his balance.  Something
funny was going on here.  

Again, Ranma charged; again, he was pushed back.  He 
snarled again and let loose a flurry of kicks and punches;
yet every single one was blocked with ease.

The gentle pattering of raindrops falling on the roof of the 
dojo came to Ranma's ears; his mind stopped momentarily to 
acknowledge that fact.  The fact he had been so easily 
distracted by the noise only fueled his frustration.

"Why aren't you hitting back?  Hit me!" he cried, frustration
in his voice, "Quit playin' around, you jerk!"

"All right," said Ryouga.  Before the words had even reached
Ranma's ears, his opponent's foot connected with his jaw,
sending him flying through the air and crashing down onto
his back.

"What the hell kind of training trip did you GO on?!" Ranma
exclaimed, sitting up.  He rubbed his jaw, amazed.  "You've
NEVER been that fast before!"

"Ranma," came the reply, with a hint of confusion, "I didn't
even train on my trip.  I just walked."

"You're lying," sneered Ranma, "there's no way you coulda just
suddenly gotten that fast.  You got Cologne teaching you some
new tricks or somethin', don't ya?"

"No," said Ryouga, honestly.  He sounded more surprised than
anything else, "It wasn't that.  It was like..."

"It was what?"

Ryouga's eyes widened; he turned to face the door of the
dojo and began to walk away.  "I should leave."

"No, wait!  Tell me what it was!"

Bending down, Ryouga picked up his backpack, pulled out his
umbrella, and stepped to the door.  He stopped for a moment,
one hand pressed up against it.  "I can't."

The door opened, as did the umbrella.  Without looking back, Ryouga
stepped into the garden and walked away.  Ranma got to his feet,
rushed to the door, and looked out after him.

Why had he lost?  What had Ryouga really learned on that training
trip of his?  And why wouldn't he say what it was?

"Dammit, Ryouga!"

With that, Ranma dashed out into the rain.

* * *

Ryouga watched the countless raindrops falling before him as
he trudged along the endless concrete of the street.  He'd come
back to Tokyo seeking closure - a way to move on.  However,
he'd found more questions than answers.  Ranma was Ranma; Ranko
was gone.  Although, if he looked long enough at Ranma he could 
see patterns.  He knew there was something Ranma wasn't telling
him.  He had no idea exactly what it was, but something had
changed since the last time he and Ranma talked.

Perhaps Ranma came across one of Ranko's memories that he didn't
like, Ryouga pondered, like the kiss.  Perhaps the time they
spent on the roof earlier in the night reminded Ranma too much
of the time Ryouga had done the same with Ranko.  Perhaps the
fight reminded Ranma of the attack on Ranko.  There was no way
to know.  

He found himself at a bridge, and stopped in the middle of it.
The rain was still pouring down around him, the stream below 
churning as water poured into it from stormwater drains, the
white light from the stars scattered amongst the churning
foam of the rushing water.  He leaned on the bridge's handrail 
and watched the water rushing beneath his feet.  A sigh escaped 
him.

A new noise joined the pattering of the rain and the gush of
the water; the noise of bare feet running along wet concrete.
The slapping sound started off quietly enough, but grew louder
as its source drew closer.

"Ryouga!"

He turned toward the source of the voice.  It was no surprise
to him to see Ranma running towards him, water splashing up
around her feet as she rushed along the street.  No doubt she
wanted to know what secret technique he had learned to win
the fight.  Another sigh escaped him, this time accompanied
by a frown.  He knew he did not have an answer that Ranma 
would like.  There was no secret technique; the only answer
that Ryouga could think of was one that Ranma wouldn't accept.

"I already said, Ranma," he said, watching her as she ran
toward him, "I can't tell you what you want to know.  There's
no point following me."

Ranma slowed, and stopped a short distance from him.  The
rain had thoroughly soaked her; streams of water cascaded
from her hair, over her face.  Ryouga stared at her face
for a moment before turning away, a pained expression on
his face.  She lifted one arm toward him, and spoke softly.

"Ryouga, wait."

He sighed and started walking away, ignoring her words.

"Ryouga!" she cried, not following him, "You don't have to
tell me!  I already know!"

These words were not so easy for him to ignore.  He turned
to face her;  she lowered her arm as he did.  Their eyes
locked; she watched the pain in his face disappear.  For
Ryouga's part, he could scarcely believe what he was seeing.
For a time he was convinced his eyes were tricking him, but
slowly recognition settled in.  He could see her eyes.

"Ranko!"

The distance between them vanished in an instant.  He 
pulled his umbrella over them both as he stood before
her, their eyes locked.  For a moment, they were both
perfectly still.

The moment passed; Ryouga grabbed Ranko powerfully in his
free arm and hugged her closely to him.  Ranko responded
in turn by wrapping her arms tightly around him and burying
her face in his chest.  Tears flowed freely down Ryouga's
face as he closed his eyes; they dripped down onto Ranko's
back and were lost among the rain already there.

"I... I thought I'd never see you again!" he sobbed, holding
her tightly against him.

"I'm sorry," she quietly replied, her own voice choked with
tears, "I... oh, Ryouga!  I've missed you so, so much!"

"I missed you too, Ranko," he said, a broad smile coming to
his face, "there are so many things I have to say to you!"

Her hands moved to his sides and pushed back slightly, 
putting a small distance between them.  She tilted her head
back and looked up at him, her eyes glimmering brightly as
she smiled.  "And there's something I want to say to you."

"What...?" he asked, softly, already lost in her eyes.

Lifting her hands, she placed one on either side of his
head and smiled up at him.  Raising herself on tiptoes, she
brought her face to his, her eyes never leaving his.  She felt
his breath as she neared him; hurried, shallow breaths that
betrayed his nervousness.  She was just as nervous as he, and
knew he could feel her heart racing.

She didn't care how nervous she was, or how nervous he was;
all that mattered to her was the immense feeling of happiness
she felt as she stood with him on the bridge beneath the starry
sky.  A welcoming warmth seemed to radiate from him, and - she 
imagined - from her to him.  She had never been in love before 
Ryouga, but she knew that the feelings she had for him were true 
love.  She brought her lips to his for a soft kiss.

"I love you."

With that, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her
lips once more to his.  His arm tightened around her, and he
smiled.

"Ranko, I love you too," he replied softly, and gently lowered
his lips to hers for a lingering kiss.

* * *

"It was you, wasn't it?"

As entrancing as the moment had been, Ryouga had eventually come to
the realization that standing out in the middle of a storm wasn't
the smartest thing to do, especially given his tendency to turn
into a pig.  And so it was decided to return to the dojo.  They'd
walked back to the house - Ranko needed some dry clothes.  Akane
spotted them as they approached, Ryouga's arm over Ranko's shoulder,
holding her to him under the umbrella.  He noticed the frown on
Akane's face, and quickly improvised a story about leaving the dojo,
running into a confused Ranko a time later and helping her back
to the house.  Ranko shot him a look; he knew she wasn't happy with
him for lying, but he didn't see that he had much choice.

Akane had helped them into the house, and took Ranko upstairs to
change into new clothes.  Ryouga, meanwhile, was taken into the
living room and thanked profusely by Soun, who began fawning over
Ranko the moment she came downstairs in new clothes.  He seemed
very protective of her, Ryouga noted, but that was to be expected;
his son-in-law to be was much more vulnerable as Ranko.  They had
both been given bowls of miso soup to warm them up and sat down
to eat them.

There had been a short conversation amongst the various family
members after the soup was finished, but Ranko did not seem to want
to participate.  She got up, excused herself politely, and went
upstairs.  Ryouga followed shortly after, explaining that his
vow to protect Ranko was still intact and he needed to speak to
her privately.

"What was me?"

"In the fight," Ryouga said, closing the door behind him as he
stepped into Ranma's bedroom.  Ranko sat crosslegged on the floor,
looking up at him.  "You were slowing Ranma down."

She smiled, a blush coming to her face, and nodded.  "I didn't
want him to hurt you."

He walked toward her and sat down opposite her.  A smile came
to his face, and he placed one hand on hers.  "I had a feeling
it was, but I didn't dare to hope..."

She looked down at the floor and said nothing.

"I thought you were gone forever," he said, quietly.

"So did I."

"I don't understand," Ryouga said, squeezing her hand, "how
did you come back?"

"I don't know," she replied, honestly.  "I just... woke up
suddenly.  It happened a few days ago.  I stayed in this body
for a day and then I was back inside him.  Then all of a sudden
I was in the rain chasing after you.  I don't know what's making
it happen."

"Some protector I was," he said softly, lowering his gaze, "I
just disappeared into the forest and left you."

"No," she whispered, placing one hand on his cheek, "don't
blame yourself."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here for you."

"I forgive you."

That made him smile.  He looked up at her again.  "All we have
to do is keep you away from cats and we can be together again."

"No, it's not that simple," she replied, shaking her head, "I
don't have any control... I just... I don't know why I keep coming
back and I don't know how to make myself stay."

She sighed and looked down at the floor.  It made her feel powerless,
that she couldn't stop Ranma from coming back and pushing her aside.
She wanted to stay, to be alive, but she knew it wasn't her body
to stay in.  A tear trickled down her cheek.

"I don't want to go back inside again," she finished, solemnly.

"There has to be something we can do," Ryouga said, gripping her hands
tightly, "maybe Cologne would know how to make you stay!"

"What?" she asked, looking up at him.  "I couldn't do that!"

"Why not?"

"I... I couldn't do that to Ranma!" she exclaimed, "I couldn't live 
with myself if I did that to him... besides, Cologne wouldn't do
that!  She wants Ranma back to normal just as much as everyone
else!"

"Even if it means we can't be together?" he asked, staring directly 
into her eyes.

"I... I'm sorry," she said, sadly, closing her eyes.  She felt she 
should be angry at him for trying to make her feel guilty, but she 
understood exactly how he felt.  "It's not an option.  I can't do that 
to him... or to Akane."

"I vowed to protect you," he said, weakly.

"I know," she replied, looking down again.  "Ryouga?"

"What?"

"I'm confused, and I'm scared, and I have no idea what's happening
to me.  I don't know what to do, and I don't know what to think."

He started to speak, but stopped as she continued.

"The only thing I DO know is that I love you, and you are the one
person who understands me.  Right now the thing I need more than
anything else is a hug."

He nodded and lifted his arms, holding them open for her.  She
leaned forward and pushed with her legs, falling forward onto
his chest, across his lap.  Looking down at her, he closed his 
arms around her small frame and held her tightly to him.  The
scent of her hair filled his nose as he nestled his cheek into
her fiery locks; the silken texture felt just as wonderful to
him now as it felt that night by the lake, that spectacular night
by the lake.

She nestled her head in against his shoulder, and he felt the
shaky warmth of her breath on his arms as she exhaled.  His 
suspicion that she was crying was confirmed as a warm droplet
dripped onto his skin.  He placed his hand on her shoulder and
squeezed her gently, supportively against him; he started
rubbing her upper arm with his hand, her skin cool and pricked
with goosebumps under his fingertips.  

"Thank you, Ryouga," she said, eventually.

He smiled and squeezed her waist with one arm, whilst the
hand of his second drifted down her arm to her hand.  He
squeezed it gently before bringing it to his face and kissing
it gently.  No matter how bad life was, after a few moments
with his Ranko, Ryouga always felt better.  He was filled
with joy at the presence of his beloved, and hoped he was
having a similar effect on her.

"I promised I'd be here for you," he replied.

She looked up at him, cheeks glistening with tears, and smiled.  
She moved her hand from his lips and placed it gently on his 
shoulders, fingers curling gently in an affectionate squeeze.  
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Ryouga Hibiki."

"Oh," he replied, a fanged grin coming to his face, "all kinds
of silly things, Ranko... uh..."  The grin disappeared.

"What's the matter?"

"I never really thought about your surname before.  I guess it's
still Saotome."

She smiled.  

"Oh, yeah.  I'm Ranko Saotome.  Sorry about this," she said
playfully, with a bat of her eyelids.  The smile soon turned 
into a laugh, and Ryouga was soon laughing too, grateful that 
Ranko seemed to be feeling better.

* * *

Akane peeked into the bathroom, wondering where Ranko and Ryouga
had wandered off to.  Neither of them seemed especially keen
to have anyone else around, but she had to check up on Ranko.
It worried her that the girl was back.  She wanted to take her
to visit Tofu-sensei as soon as she could.  The entire family
had agreed on that; they all wanted Ranma back to normal, before
any damage was done.  As much as Ranma annoyed them all, she
couldn't deny that they did miss him when he was gone.  And,
she admitted, she missed him a lot more than anyone else.

The bathroom was empty, leaving few alternative locations.
She heard laughter from Ranma's bedroom, and walked toward
it.  She didn't knock - if she looked back on the events
of the night from a point in the future she probably would
wonder why she didn't - instead she simply pulled the door
open.

The sight that greeted her prompted her eyes to fly wide open
and her jaw to hang loose in shock.  Ryouga sat on the floor
before her, his back up against the wall, with Ranko draped
across his lap.  His arms were around her, her arms were
around him, her head rested on his chest, eyes closed, and
his head rested atop hers, his face half-concealed by the
bright red plumes of her hair.

"A-A-Akane!" Ryouga stammered, his head turning toward her.

This made Ranko's eyes snap open; she quickly jumped
up to her knees, moving back from him.  She looked up at
Akane like a deer caught in headlights, her face frozen
in a terrified expression.

"What are you two DOING?!" Akane yelled, barely able to
restrain herself.

"I... uh... we..." Ryouga stammered, unable to find a cohesive
sentence to say.

"That is to say, uh... we... I... ah..." Ranko added, having
little more success.

"No!  I don't want to know!  Far be it from ME to 
_INTERRUPT_!" Akane screamed, her face crimson with fury. She 
turned, slamming the door behind her, and stomped off down the 
hall.

"Oh... no," Ranko whispered, as the footsteps faded to silence.

Ryouga merely whimpered, looking as if he was about to pass 
out.

"I have to go and talk to her," she said, getting to her feet.

"But... but what are you going to say?"

"The truth," she sighed, "I have to tell her the truth.  Please,
wait here, Ryouga.  I have to talk to her alone."

* * *

Ranko stopped before Akane's door and looked up at it.  It would
be... difficult, she knew.  She felt incredibly guilty for what
she had done.  With a sigh, she knocked on the door.

"Go away!"

She winced.  She knew Akane would be upset, but she didn't count on
it hurting her this much to hear the anger in Akane's voice.  Part
of her wanted to do exactly what Akane asked - go away, run away and
hide and never come back.  But no; she had to do it, for Ranma, for
Akane, and for herself.  She steeled herself, pushed open the door 
and stepped into Akane's bedroom.

Akane sat up against the headboard of her bed, crying.  Her 
tear-stained cheeks were red with anger; her eyes stared angrily
at Ranko from beneath frowning eyebrows.

"What are you doing?  I told you to go away!  Get out!"

"Akane..."

"I don't want to hear it!"

"Please let me explain."

"Oh, I suppose you tripped and fell and Ryouga just happened to be
there to catch you, right?"

"I'm not going to lie to you," Ranko said, sitting on the end of
Akane's bed, "it was exactly what it looked like."

The lack of denial surprised Akane, and left her in stunned silence.
Ranko looked over at her momentarily before looking back down at the
floor.  Something about the honesty of the reply made Akane's anger
subside a little.

"When I was first here," she continued, slowly, "it was Ryouga who
attacked me."

"What?  It was HIM?!"

"It was," Ranko nodded, "he thought I was Ranma.  He found out the
truth and promised to protect me, in case someone else like Mousse
made the same mistake.  We started talking and became friends.  I
don't know how, or why, but... well..."

Ranko paused and closed her eyes.  Akane sniffed, but said nothing.

"I... fell in love with him."

"Does... does Ranma know?" Akane managed, after a few moments of
silence.

"He knows," Ranko replied, with a nod, "he's not very happy about it."

"I can imagine," came the reply, with a snort.

"There's more to it than that."

"Huh?"

Ranko sighed, a long, tired sigh.  "Ranma and I live in the same mind.
I seem to know more about it than he does.  I've been feeling more...
aggressive lately.  You remember the morning Ranma got into a girl's
uniform?"

Akane nodded, saying nothing.

"I think that was because of me.  He's been acting... different, lately,
hasn't he?"

"Yeah," Akane replied, nodding, "less of a jerk."

"I'm not sure, but from what I can tell, our personalities are 
beginning to merge together."

"Merge together?"

"Yeah," Ranko nodded, "Ranma seems determined to ignore what's going
on.  There are things he doesn't want to admit."

"So that's why he didn't want to go to Tofu-sensei's office..."

"He's embarrassed."

"Of what?"

"Well... I can tell you, but you can't tell anyone else, okay?"

"All right..."

"Well," Ranko said, "he, uh... well..."

"Well what?" asked Akane, her curiosity piqued.

"Okay, here goes," Ranko sighed.  She clasped her hands together 
and spoke quickly, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible.  
"He's starting to have feelings for Ryouga."

"He's WHAT?" shrieked Akane, barely believing her ears.

"He'd never admit it to anyone, but he feels... affectionate toward 
Ryouga."

"Oh... my," Akane breathed, after a long pause.  She felt should feel 
angry at Ranma, but she couldn't bring herself to manage it.  Ranma 
and Ryouga? It was just too bizarre to think about.

Ranko sat in silence for a few moments, rubbing her hands together,
deep in thought.  She chewed pensively on her lower lip for a time;
then reached a decision, and looked up at Akane.

"There's something else."

"Even MORE?" Akane asked, incredulous.  There had been so many surprises
already, how many more could there be?

"Ranma's being affected by me, but I'm being affected by him as well.
Like I said before, I'm being more aggressive lately, but there's
something else..."

"Something else?"

Ranko looked up, and turned her face to Akane.  She looked directly at
her, her cheeks blushing a bright red.  "I think it's better to get 
it out in the open that... well... I'm beginning to have feelings for
you, Akane."

"F-for me...?" Akane stammered, soon blushing as brightly as Ranko.
"Because of Ranma?"

Ranko merely nodded, and looked away again.  Akane said nothing, her
jaw hanging loose as she pondered the implications of what Ranko had
just said.  Life was suddenly a LOT more complicated in the Tendo
household.

"It's important that you know that what you saw just now doesn't mean
my - Ranma's feelings for you are diminished at all.  Don't be angry
at Ranma, Akane.  Please, don't be angry at him."

"So he DOES care about me," Akane said, softly.  She still seemed to
be off-guard from Ranko's earlier comment; her voice seemed distant,
and her gaze seemed to be fixed on the far wall of her room.

"He does," Ranko nodded.  She reached over and took Akane's hand; this
seemed to snap the Tendo girl out of her reverie.  Akane looked over
at Ranko to see a warm, kind smile on the redheaded girl's face.

"I should go," she said, giving Akane's hand a gentle squeeze, "Ryouga
is worried sick about this whole thing.  I should talk to him."

"All right," Akane managed, her attention held by the emotional warmth 
of Ranko's smile and the physical warmth of her hand.  She swallowed,
and managed to smile in return.  "Ranko?"

"Yes, Akane?"

"You should tell Ryouga about this.  What you told me, I mean."

"I know I should," she replied, "I hope he understands.  But don't
worry about it, Akane.  I'll tell him."

Ranko stood and walked toward the door - she stopped with one hand
on it, and turned back to face Akane, a mischievious smile playing on
her lips.

"Hey, Akane?"

"Hm?"

"Don't tell him I told you," she said, playfully, "but Ranma thinks
you're cute."

* * *

Ryouga stared out through the window in Ranma's room, clenching and
unclenching his fists.  How could he have been so stupid?  He'd been
so emotionally preoccupied with happiness at Ranko's return that he'd
completely forgotten the fact that Akane was under the same roof.  Now
she had caught them together and was obviously upset about it.

He sighed.  He never wanted to hurt Akane.  Even if he didn't _love_
her, he still cared about her, and hurting her was the last thing he
wanted to do.  A dull throb in his stomach seemed to represent his
guilt; the more he thought about Akane the worse the pain got.  It
was only when he felt a hand upon each of his shoulders that he
realized someone was standing behind him.

He turned, and found Ranko standing before him.  He wasn't able to
immediately identify the expression on her face, and so the obvious
question rolled off his tongue almost immediately.

"How's Akane?"

"She's all right," came the reply, followed by a smile.  "I talked
things through with her."

"Did you tell her...?"

"What?  That I'm madly in love with you?" she said, the smile
growing, "Yes, I told her that."

"How did she take it?"

"Well," Ranko smiled, a twinkle in her eyes, "I made it back alive,
didn't I?"

Ryouga's expression of concern slowly left him, replaced by a relieved
smile.  He pulled Ranko into a hug, and she hugged him tightly.

"She's a very understanding person, once you get to know her," Ranko
said, "very kind and warm-hearted."

"I know," Ryouga replied, softly, "believe me, I know.  I was afraid
we'd really hurt her."

"We did, at first," Ranko replied, nodding, "but I explained things to
her and she understands."

"I'm glad," Ryouga said, nodding, and pulled Ranko against him.  She
leaned forward and rested her head on his chest, letting out what
sounded like a sigh of relief.  He smiled and stroked her hair gently,
holding her pigtail in his hand.

Suddenly, her muscles stiffened; Ryouga put his hands on her shoulders
and pushed her slightly away, looking down at her.

"What's the matter?"

Ranko looked up at him.  Her expression was similar, but the smile
was gone.  Ryouga moved one hand from her shoulder to stroke her cheek.
She still didn't move; just looked up into his eyes.  Slowly, eventually,
she turned around and took a couple of steps away.

"So, I guess now you know."

"Know what?"

"That Ranko's back."

Ryouga stared at her in silence for a few moments, before finally 
managing to speak.  "Ranma?"

Ranma turned to look back at him and nodded, her arms folded in front of
her.  Ryouga noted with a measure of relief that she didn't appear angry.
In fact, she appeared more timid than anything else.

"I guess she told you all about her comin' back and stuff."

Ryouga nodded.  Ranma sighed and sat down.  "I sure wish she'd tell me.
I ain't got no clue what's going on."

Ryouga stepped forward slowly, then sat down, not taking his eyes from
her; cautious, in case she became angry and decided to punch him or
something.  He thought for a moment, wondering what to say - but before
he could open his mouth, Ranma spoke again.

"Ever since she left the first time around, I felt something weird inside
me.  Like my conscience, y'know?  A little voice telling me what's right
and what's wrong."

Ryouga nodded.

"I just shrugged it off at first, and after you left on your trip
things started to get back to normal, but it was always there, just
a nagging voice inside my mind.  It got louder and louder until one
day I couldn't hear anything else."

"When she came out and took control of your body again?"

"Yeah," Ranma replied, nodding.  

"Do you see what she does?"

"Sorta," Ranma replied, "it's like a dream or somethin'.  I can't
remember everything but there are some things she does that I see.

"I mean," he continued, "if it was just her using my body from 
time to time, maybe - MAYBE - I could deal with it.  But..."

"But what?"

"But that damn Ranko is... leaking through!  Like she ain't
happy to just take over my body, she's trying to take over my
mind too.  I keep acting like a girl!  It's driving me 
crazy!"

Ryouga nodded slowly, deep in his own thoughts as Ranma's words
sank in.  If what Ranma was saying was true, perhaps Ranko would
eventually emerge as the dominant personality.  He could only 
hope...

His thoughts were scattered as he felt Ranma's hands suddenly
grab his.  She looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

"You understand... don't you, Ryouga?"

"Wha...?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Argh!" Ranma yelled, jumping to her feet.  Her face quickly
darkened into a frown; with a snarl, she rushed to a corner
of the room and punched the wall, breaking the wood where she
hit.  "There she goes again!  Damn her!" 

Ryouga stood as Ranma slowly withdrew her fist from the wall and
sank to her knees, facing the room's corner.  He stepped up to
her but stopped a small distance away, unsure of what to do.

"Ranma..."

"I'm scared, Ryouga." Ranma said, a mere whisper.

Ryouga dropped to his knees behind her.  For Ranma to admit
that... it truly took a frightening circumstance indeed to
scare Ranma.  Ranko or no Ranko, Ranma was Ryouga's best friend,
and it pained him to see such fear in her.

"I'm SCARED," she said again, turning to face him.  She was
crying now - another sign that things were very seriously wrong,
Ranma never cried, unless something was *really* wrong - her 
eyes closing as tears ran down her cheeks.  "I don't want Ranko 
to just disappear, but what if she takes over?  What if I go 
nuts?  I just... I can't..."

"I..." Ryouga began, but had no idea what to say.  He trailed
off into an uneasy silence; his instincts were telling him to
run away and hide until he could think things through.  He
knew, however, that Ranma needed someone to talk to, so stayed
where he was.  

Ranma interrupted Ryouga's silent thought with a fresh burst
of sobbing, her hands pressed up against her face.  Ryouga
bit his lip and placed his hand gently on her shoulder, unable
to think of anything else to do.  As soon as he did, Ranma
turned her head to look at him.  She blinked a couple of times,
tears still running freely from her eyes; then in one swift
movement she dived forward and threw her arms around him, almost
knocking him to his back with the force of her motion.

She squeezed his waist tightly in her arms and buried her face
in his chest, wetting his shirt with her tears.  Hesitantly,
Ryouga did the only thing he really could - he placed his arms
around Ranma's shoulders and gave a gentle, supportive squeeze.

"Things will work out okay, Ranma."

"You really think so?" she sniffed, looking up at him.

"They always do," he replied, with a smile.  He wasn't sure if
he was being honest or not.

She managed a smile; a real, grateful smile.  "Thank you."

<She looks just like Ranko,> he thought, looking down at her 
smiling face.  He found himself looking her in the eyes,
and slowly - almost imperceptibly - lowering his head toward
hers.  For her part, Ranma made no effort to move away.

<Ranko...>

Ranma's eyes seemed to drift closed as Ryouga's head drew
closer; he too closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly
as he neared her.  He became aware of the moisture on her
cheeks as the distance between their faces shrank; then he
felt her breath drifting across his lips as she exhaled.
A shaky, unsteady exhalation.  It was this shaky breath that
made Ryouga realize he could feel her body trembling in
his embrace.  A shy, timid tremble, almost... scared.

Scared.

Ryouga's eyes shot open.  Tears were still flowing from
Ranma's eyes as he pulled back quickly from her face, his
hands moving from her upper back to her shoulders and
pushing her back from him.  Slowly, her eyes opened,
blinking tears away and focusing on his face again.

"I... I should go," he said, quietly.

"Please do," Ranma said, softly.  Her head dropped again,
and she remained staring at the floor long after Ryouga
had walked through the door.

* * *

<What was I THINKING?>

Ryouga tightened his grip on the handle of his umbrella.
The rainfall was insignificant now, but he was too preoccupied
to notice.

<I nearly kissed Ranma.  Ranma!> he thought to himself, 
playing the moment over and over in his mind.  Ranma had
been so upset, and he'd nearly taken advantage of her.  She'd
looked so much like Ranko at the time.  His mind had just...
switched off.  Hadn't it?  

Part of him wondered if it really was Ranma that he'd run
away from.  Only Ranko would have let him get that close.
But, he reasoned, she wouldn't have been shaking like that.
If it was Ranma, she would have knocked him through the 
nearest window if there was even a suspicion he was going 
to try anything.

It had to be one or the other, but Ryouga had no clue which
one it was.  If it was Ranko, maybe she was just upset about
Akane, and had lied to him about everything being alright
with her.  If it was Ranma... well.  He didn't want to think
about that.

* * *  

Ranma was angry.

She reached down to the floor, placing her hand in the
moisture left by her tears.  She was angry at herself for
crying.  Especially in front of Ryouga!  

She was angry at Ryouga, for doing what he did.  How dare he?
She sighed.  She wasn't as angry at him as she should have 
been.  He couldn't have been sure who was kneeling before him,
her or Ranko.  Part of her wished that Ryouga hadn't stopped,
that he'd kissed her like he should have.

No!  She was a guy, dammit!  Ryouga tried to take advantage of
her when she was half insensible!  If he hadn't stopped...

But he did stop.  He'd realized his mistake and he'd stopped.
And after all, it WAS her who jumped all over him.  But...

<Damn Ranko!> she thought angrily, getting to her feet.

She yanked the door of her room open and stomped out into the
hallway, headed straight for the bathroom.  Once there, she
started to run some hot water.

<Damn her!>

* * *

Kasumi lifted the kettle and began pouring the boiling water.
The familiar noises of sparring drifted in through the window,
stopping only after the usual heavy splash.  Kasumi smiled as
she looked down at the kettle.  Even after pouring the water
into the teacups there was plenty left.  She'd long ago learned
that if she was boiling water, she might as well fill the kettle
right up first.

Looking up, she saw Ranma stepping into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Ranma!" she said, cheerily, "Did you sleep well?"

"Not really," he replied with a yawn, "I had some stuff on my
mind.  Where's Pops?"

"He's outside, sparring with Father."

"Yeah?" Ranma asked, surprised.  "What about Akane?"

"In the dojo, I think," came the reply.

"Okay, thanks," he nodded, and turned to leave.

"Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"Could I speak to you for a moment?"

"Sure, I guess," Ranma said, scratching his head.

Kasumi picked up one of the teacups and took a small sip of
tea, then turned to face him.  She was smiling, as always,
but Ranma could tell she had something important to say.

"We're all very concerned about you, Ranma," she began, 
"especially Akane.  She's very worried."

"Her?  Huh.  What does she care what happens to me?" he
replied, coolly.

"Come now, Ranma," Kasumi continued, "you know she cares about
you.  We all do.  That's why I'm asking you to go back to Dr.
Tofu to let him have a look at you."

"Aw, geez," Ranma sighed, exasperated, "I wish you guys would
stop fussin' over nothing.  I'm fine."

"I know you don't think it's a problem, Ranma.  We all like
Ranko.  But I was talking with Akane yesterday, and she told
me that Dr. Tofu was quite concerned about you."

"Yeah?"

Kasumi nodded.  "He's worried about what Ranko's return might
mean.  It could be serious, Ranma."

"I don't think so."

"Ranma," she said, softly, "we all know you're strong, and
the best martial artist here.  Going to see Dr. Tofu about
it doesn't make you any less of a man."

"I can handle it, it's not a big problem."

"It might not be at the moment, but it could get worse.
Please, Ranma, if not for yourself, do it for Akane.  If
the problem gets worse, it might be too late to do anything
about it."

"Aw, man..."

"I'm not saying you have to get any treatment just yet,
but at least go and talk to him, Ranma.  Please?"

Ranma sighed again, dramatically.  He folded his arms in front
of him.  Kasumi was expecting him to refuse again, but was
surprised when he shrugged.

"Alright, you win, I'll go." he said.

"Thank you, Ranma!" Kasumi smiled, "I'll go and tell Akane so
she can go with you."

"What?  Hey!"

"Just to hear what Dr. Tofu has to say, Ranma.  Nothing
more."

Ranma sighed, and with a roll of his eyes, nodded.  "All right."

Kasumi watched him as he turned and walked out of the kitchen,
a curious expression on her face.  She hadn't expected it to
be so easy.  The front door slammed shut, and she raised her
teacup again.  Taking a sip, she pondered to herself for a 
moment before turning to walk toward the garden.

"Father, Saotome-sama!  I've made you some tea!  Akane!  Could
you come here for a moment?"

* * *

"I'm glad you came back to see me again, Ranma."

"I didn't have much choice," Ranma shrugged, "I knew I wouldn't
get any peace until I did."

Akane scowled.  "That's not true, Ranma."

"It is too.  You guys haven't left me alone since it happened.
I still don't get why you're making such a big deal outta it."

"Now now," Dr. Tofu interrupted, "there's no need to argue."

He sat down in a chair next to the examination table Ranma was 
sitting on.  He'd conducted only a brief physical exam - there 
was no need for an extensive one - instead opting to ask some 
questions about Ranma's problem.  Akane sat on the other side 
of the table, the scowl still on her face.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Ranma," he said, taking his
glasses off and brushing away a smudge on one of the lenses, 
"I don't think there is much I can do to help.  The first time 
Ranko appeared I assumed it was a simple side-effect of the 
bump on the head you got, but I have no idea why she's come 
back now."

"No idea at all?" asked Akane.

"You gotta have some sort of idea, don't ya, doc?"

"No," Tofu replied, putting his glasses on again, "I'm a
chiropractor.  I don't know how the mind works.  It sounds to
me like you have some sort of multiple personality disorder,
but I can't be sure.  I could refer you to a psychiatrist,
if you like?"

"No!" Ranma said, waving one hand in front of him, "I don't
need a shrink poking around in my head!  I'm fine, really.
It... she'll go away sooner or later."

"If you don't want to see one, that's your choice," Tofu
nodded, "in which case the only thing I can suggest is that
you try to relax and get your mind off it.  The condition
doesn't seem to be *dangerous*, so it can't hurt to let it
continue for a while and see if it resolves itself."

"Sounds good to me," Ranma said, brightening, "a bit
of relaxation sounds great."

"Ranma," Tofu said with a smile, "by 'relaxation', I don't
mean martial arts competitions or fights in the streets.
Get some rest, have some fun, okay?  Doctor's orders."

"How'm I supposed to have fun if I can't fight?"

Akane rolled her eyes.  "You have such a one-track mind."

"What would you know?  You're such a tomboy," came the 
inevitable retort.  Ranma stood and made his way over to 
the sliding door.  "Thanks for your help, doc.  I'm outta 
here."

Dr. Tofu watched Ranma step through the doorway into the
waiting room, and close the door behind himself.  Akane stood
with her hands on her hips, frowning at the leaving boy.

"Akane," he said, turning to face her, "I want you to
watch Ranma.  If his condition doesn't start improving
soon, I'd like you to bring him back to me."

"Do you think there's actually a serious problem?"

"I'm not sure.  Just watch him for a while.  If things don't 
start getting better soon, I'm going to have to make a
serious recommendation for some sort of psychiatric therapy.
It doesn't seem to be affecting him too badly just yet,
but it just might develop into something harmful."

* * *

Kasumi sipped again at her tea, as did Genma and Soun.
Akane and Ranma were at Dr. Tofu's, and Nabiki was out 
shopping.  At times like these, the house seemed wonderfully 
peaceful.

"That was a good workout, Tendo," noted Genma.

"Certainly was, Saotome," nodded Soun, "although I'm sure
it wasn't as rigorous as your bouts with Ranma."

"No," Genma replied, shaking his head, "I hope the boy
isn't getting soft, with all this Ranko business."

"It's certainly been a problem."

"Father, I've been thinking lately," said Kasumi.

"About what, Kasumi?"

"About Ranma," she replied, taking another sip.

"What about him?" asked Genma, looking up from his teacup.

Kasumi placed her teacup down on the table in front of
her and placed her hands on her knees.  "About his problem.  
We've assumed that Ranko is a problem in his mind that he 
has to get rid of."

Soun nodded, interested.

"Something occurred to me a while ago, when I was talking
to him.  Perhaps Ranko isn't as bad a problem as we thought."

"How do you mean, Kasumi?" her father inquired.

"It just seems odd that, if Ranko were a *problem*, her presence
would be having such a positive influence on him."

"Positive influence?"

"He's been much more agreeable lately.  Less spirited.  He seems
to think things through more carefully as of late.  Have you
noticed?"

"Now that you mention it, he *has* been acting more... sensible."

"Sensible?" snorted Genma, "He's just becoming indecisive.  Losing
his edge!  To think that all my years of training him are being 
undone!  I just hope I can bring the boy back up to speed."

"I think it might be best if that wait," Kasumi commented, "until
we see how this situation works itself out."

"I agree, Kasumi," Soun said, with a nod, "best not to stress the
lad while he's in such a state."

"It breaks my heart to see my only son like this.  The things a
father must endure!"

"Now, Saotome, if Kasumi's right, and Ranko really does bring Ranma 
down  to earth, he's more likely to settle and marry my Akane, is 
he not?"

"Now that you mention it, Tendo," Genma noted, placing a hand on
his chin, "I can see the benefit of Kasumi's idea."

* * *

Akane sighed as she walked along the street.  The streetlights
above her cast strange shadows as she walked, appearing in
front of her feet at first, then stretching out, longer and
longer, until she walked close enough to the next streetlight
for its brightness to banish the stretched silhouette of herself,
only to start the cycle again as she walked under it.

Fortunately, the sound of her sigh was drowned out by the crunch
of gravel beneath her and Ryouga's shoes, and Ranko's getas.  She
didn't want to let Ranko know that she was unhappy with the twists
the night was taking; after all, this night was for her.

They had returned from Dr. Tofu's with advice to relax and have
fun.  Her father and Saotome-san had agreed with the suggestion,
but the idea to visit the fair that was in town had only arisen once
Ranko had resurfaced again a few days later.  So, it was decided.
Akane would take Ranko to the fair; fun and relaxation would be
had by all.

Akane had been excited about it - she loved the fair, after all.
Ranko had borrowed a kimono from Kasumi especially and beamed
with pride as she showed it off to Akane.  Akane had to admit;
it made Ranko look good.  Great, in fact.

They'd started out toward the fair, arm in arm; it was a 
reasonable walk from the house, so they had left just as the sun 
disappeared from the sky.  They had both been surprised to see 
Ryouga standing in the flickering sodium glow of a streetlight, 
looking very lost.

Ryouga, for his part, was indeed very lost.  After the curious
events of the night in the Tendo household, he had left hurriedly
and walked away in the first direction that came to mind.  He'd
been walking ever since, and had little to no idea where he was.
It naturally came as quite a surprise to him to see Akane and
Ranma - Ranko? - he wasn't sure - walking toward him.

His eyes immediately locked onto Ranko, who looked stunning in a
white silken kimono, held in place by a bright red obi - the same
bright hue as her hair - that spanned her waist, coming together
in a large bow behind her back.  The material of the kimono seemed
to flow around her body as if it were a liquid, accentuating the
curves she possessed as she made her way gracefully down the street, 
the getas on her feet seeming to glide along the pavement as she 
walked.

Ranko, he decided, it was definitely Ranko.  He smiled and nodded
his head, then looked over at Akane, who had an unmistakably
uncomfortable expression on her face.  It was a shame; a smile would
have complimented her sunny yellow dress perfectly.  She wore matching
yellow pumps and carried a small white purse with her.

Akane could definitely look very feminine when she wanted to, Ryouga
pondered as he watched, then blushed as he realized he was staring.
The pleasant feelings of first sight soon faded, however, and Ryouga
found himself remembering that he should be feeling uncomfortable.
He shuffled his feet, and greeted the two girls as they drew closer.

"Hello, Ryouga," Akane said, politely, "what brings you here?"

"Ryouga-chan!" Ranko smiled, walking over to him and kissing him
on the cheek.  "I'd been wondering where you'd gotten to!"

"I was, uh," Ryouga began, stopping as Ranko kissed him.  He
glanced at Akane, who continued to look uncomfortable, but said
nothing.  Ranko smiled at him; he gulped, and started again.

"I was just wandering around, not really heading anywhere
in particular.  Where are you two going, all dressed up?"

"We're going to the fair!" Ranko chimed, excitedly, "I've
never been before!  Come with us!"

Ryouga shook his head, looking over at Akane, who seemed
to be trying to say something.  "I don't think I should..."

"Please, Ryouga?  It'd make me happy."

"I, uh..." he mumbled, and looked over at Akane again.  Her
expression seemed more positive, and she nodded her assent.
Ryouga sighed, and agreed to go.  If he was going to be
with Ranko he preferred to be alone with her, and of anyone
else to be with them, Akane was probably the worst person
possible.

He still felt guilty about the night in Akane's house;
his mind was on such matters as Ranko linked her arm with
his and tugged him with her along the street.  Akane shook
her head and continued walking, behind and off to the
side of the couple.

And so it was that Ranko, Akane and Ryouga made their
way toward the fair.

* * *

The fair was spectacular, as always; bright lights, cheery
music and happy people came together to create a carnival
atmosphere.  The trio made their way through crowds and passed
several stalls, filled with dozens of ways to spend money.
Bright flashing lights adorned an endless variety of carnival
games, and colourfully dressed denizens performed feats for 
the crowds of excited customers, ranging from juggling to 
fire-swallowing to brick breaking to knife throwing.  Akane
and Ryouga weren't overly impressed - it was all stuff they
had seen before, and in the case of Ryouga, a large majority
of the so-called amazing feats of strength were well within
his abilities.  Akane found herself unimpressed by the small
piles of bricks that were being broken.

Ranko, however, had not experienced anything like it, and her
wide eyes glimmered with awe and amazement at the spectacular
displays around her.  She clung tightly to Ryouga's arm,
occasionally letting out a gasp of amazement or a squeal of
joyous delight at the wondrous events going on around her.  Her
voice carried the simple joy of someone who was *happy*; happy
to be where they were, happy to be with who she was with.

Akane tried to get into the spirit of things, but found herself
unable to stop watching Ranko and Ryouga walking arm in arm 
together.  It was nice to see Ryouga with someone who liked him,
yes - but did it have to be her?  Why, of all people, did it 
have to be her?  She so wanted Ranma to be with her at the fair,
but no, Ranko was in control. She let out a soft sigh.

Ryouga, for his part, tried to remain neutral.  It embarrassed
him to be with Ranko in front of Akane like this, and he felt terrible
about taking Ranma away from her.  However, Ranko's delight was
contagious, and he soon found himself smiling and laughing as he
talked with his beloved, the sunny smile on her face cheering his
heart in a way that only she could.  Every now and then he would
catch a glimpse of Akane and try to sober himself; it didn't last
long, however, and time after time he found himself again sharing
in Ranko's joy.

Akane grew more and more depressed as the night drew on.  Ranko
and Ryouga had progressed from merely walking together; first, to
Ryouga walking with his arm over Ranko's shoulders, then hugging
each time they stopped, and gazing into each other's eyes like a
sickly-sweet couple.  Akane frowned.  It looked to her like they
would soon be kissing each other.

However, that did not happen; Ranko seemed to be shy, and apparently
did not want to do anything more than hugging.  Akane sighed; she
knew it was because Ranko didn't want to make her feel bad.  It was
a nice idea in theory, but it was having the opposite of its intended
effect.  By the time they walked past some temporary toilet stalls
a couple of hours later, Akane was anxiously looking forward to
leaving the fair.

"Oh!" said Ranko, stopping suddenly, "Would you excuse me for a
moment, Ryouga-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"I, uh," Ranko continued, blushing and looking back toward the stalls,
"I need to freshen up."

"Oh," Ryouga nodded, and smiled.  "Sure thing.  I'll wait right here."

Ranko turned toward the stalls and stepped daintily off toward them,
stopping a moment after passing Akane, and turning back to face her.

"Are you coming, Akane?"

"No," Akane said, flatly, before adding a moment later, "I'm all right."

"All right," Ranko replied, with a pleasant smile, and walked off toward
the stalls.  Even if Ranko was the reason that Ranma was gone, Akane
couldn't bring herself to *dislike* the girl.  Ranko was just too...
*nice* for that.  That was what irritated her - she couldn't put the
blame for her depression on Ranko, and it only highlighted the fact that
the problem was her own.

"Akane?"

"Huh?" replied Akane, looking up.  She'd been so lost in her thoughts
that she'd completely forgotten Ryouga was still with her.  He picked 
up on her preoccupation.

"I just want to apologize for tonight, Akane," he said, stepping over
to her.

"It's okay," Akane replied, weakly.  She doubted whether she meant it,
and knew Ryouga wouldn't believe it either.  "It's not your fault."

"Whose fault is it?  Ranko's?" he asked, looking intently at her.

Anger flashed inside her.  How dare he bait her like that?  Was he
TRYING to start a fight?  The only person dumb enough to say something
stupid like that would be... Ranma.

Ranma.  Akane sighed.

"It's not her fault either, and you know it," she said, eventually.

"I know you must feel bad right now," he said, with a sigh, "I wish
more than anything there was an obvious solution.  I don't want to
take Ranma from you.  I can't stand the thought of doing that to
you!  But..."

"But what?"

"But... I love Ranko.  Please don't hate us for that."

Akane looked down at the ground and said nothing.  She knew how
Ryouga felt; ever since Ranma had showed up, people had attacked
them, angry at their engagement.  Admittedly, a lot of the time it
was them attacking each other - but she knew how Ryouga felt.
When Ranma was around, she felt a twinge of guilt at taking Ranko 
away from Ryouga.  She snorted at the absurdity of it; feeling 
guilty over depriving a friend of the company of a fictitious 
personality.

"I don't hate you," she said, at length, "but... I just... I want
Ranma back."

Ryouga reached up and placed his hand on Akane's shoulder.  She
looked up at him, the concern in his eyes making her feel a certain
kinship toward him.  She managed a smile, even though she felt a
sudden frustration; she couldn't be angry at Ranko, and now she
couldn't be angry at Ryouga either.  Who COULD she be angry at?

That thought, however, was not for sharing, and so her smile
ended the conversation between them.  They stood together for
a time, silent amongst the multitide of noises from the fair.
Eventually, however, their silence had to end, and a few 
minutes later it did.

"Ranko's been gone for a long time," she noted, looking over
toward the stalls.

"She has," Ryouga nodded, "I'll go check on her."

"I think," Akane said, putting her hand on his shoulder to
hold him back, "I should go, unless you want to explain what
you're doing in the girl's toilets."

Ryouga blushed and smiled nervously, an uncomfortable laugh
escaping him.  Reaching up and scratching the back of his 
head, he nodded.  "Yeah, uh, good idea."

* * *

<Where IS that girl?> thought Akane, stepping out of the
girl's toilets.  A cursory check had shown them all to be
empty, which left a confused Akane standing in front of
them scratching her head.

<Maybe Ranma came back, and got confused,> she pondered,
hopefully.  <I guess I'll have to have a look around for
her.>

With that she turned and left, leaving Ryouga leaning against
a pie-throwing stand and wondering why girls took so long
in the bathroom.

* * *

"You're sure you want another?"

"Yeah, I'm sure!  Make it quick, will ya?  I ain't got much
time."

"You certainly have a healthy appetite, ma'am," noted the
chef, turning back to his grill, "one pork okonomiyaki coming
right up."

<A healthy appetite indeed,> he noted, sprinkling the ingredients
together on the hot metal, <if she always eats like this, I
wonder how she keeps that figure.>

Ranma tapped her fingers on the bench, glancing back and forth
occasionally.  She probably should have chosen a spot further
from the restrooms to eat, but the smell of okonomiyaki had
lured her in.  The makeshift little restaurant was *okay* -
certainly no Ucchan's - but she was hungry enough to not care
that the food didn't taste as nice as Ukyo's okonomiyaki.  It 
was passable, moderately good, and that was enough.  

Ukyo would probably kill her if she found out that Ranma had
eaten somebody else's okonomiyaki, but she figured one time
wouldn't hurt, and Ukyo wouldn't find out anyway.  The chef
placed the okonomiyaki on the bench before her; flashing
him a smile, she tucked in with gusto, munching like she hadn't
been fed for a week.

"Mmm," Ranma said, around a mouthful, "thish ish gud."

"Uh huh," the chef replied, leaning against the bench, "you,
uh, want some water to wash that down or something?"

Ranma nodded, gulping audibly, then spoke, "Yes please."

With a nod, the chef bent down behind the bench and emerged
a moment later with a full glass of water.  He handed it to
Ranma, who already had her mouth stuffed again.  She took
the glass and downed the water in one motion, placing it down 
with a *clunk* on the bench as she returned her attention to 
her meal.

"Hey!  What are you doing?"

Ranma's enthusiastic chewing stopped; she turned her head,
wide-eyed, to the source of the voice.

"A-Akane!  I was just, um..."

"Eating," Akane said, stepping into the little restaurant,
"So I see.  I thought you were just going to freshen up!"

"I was, I just got hungry and thought I'd grab a bite
to eat."

"Well, hurry up and let's get going," Akane replied, crossing
her arms.  

Ranma nodded and turned back to the okonomiyaki, eating it
even more rapidly than before; this surprised the chef, who
didn't know such a thing was possible.

"Man," Akane said, turning away, "you eat like a pig."

Ranma frowned and mumbled something around a mouthful of food.

"Wait a minute!" Akane said, whirling back to face the girl
eating the okonomiyaki, "Ranko doesn't eat like that!"

"Yes she does!" Ranma replied, after swallowing.  She paused
for a moment, realizing her mistake.  "I mean, I do!  Uh 
oh."

"Ranma!  When did you get back?  Why didn't you tell me?"

"I dunno, maybe I was mad that I was wearin' this stupid
getup!  Who the hell decided to put me in this stupid
looking kimono anyway?" Ranma snapped, looking down at the
clothing in question.

"Uh, I think this might be a bad time," interrupted the 
chef, who was by now extremely confused, "but if it helps, 
I think the kimono looks great on you."

"You're right," replied Ranma, looking back at him, "this IS
a bad time."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me, Ranma!" Akane fumed.

"Oh, calm down already," Ranma replied, annoyed.  "I only
came back a couple minutes ago.  I didn't know where I was,
but I could smell some nice food."

"Best okonomiyaki in town," said the chef, proudly.  Confused
or not, he knew when to pitch his product.  "Have a seat,
ma'am, I'll cook you a meal to remember."

"No, thanks," Akane said politely, "we don't have time.
Come on, Ranma, we have to go."

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Ranma said, eating the last bite of
her food.  She pulled some money from her kimono and
reached down to put it on the bench.  "Ryouga will probably
be wondering where we went."

This statement was followed by a long silence, penetrated
only by the slap of Ranma's hand as it hit the bench.  It
stayed in the same position after it hit, as its owner's
eyes widened.  "Uh oh."

"Ranma!" Akane yelled, lifting a hand to point accusatorily, 
"Wait just a minute!  If you don't know how you got into the 
kimono, just HOW did you know Ryouga was waiting for us?"

"I, uh, ah... um..." Ranma stammered, beginning to sweat
profusely.

Akane stormed over to him, hands forming into fists.  "You
have exactly three seconds to start telling me the truth."

"..."

"Three."

"Why should I tell you anyway?  It's none of your business anyhow."

"Two," Akane continued, loosening and tightening her fists.

"I don't have to tell you, it's, uh... not something I have to tell
you... uh..."

"One," Akane finished, lifting one fist up in a threatening fashion.

"Okay!  Okay!" Ranma sighed, lifting her hands up in defeat, "I'll
tell you.  But if you so much as tell ANYONE..."

"Just spill it, Ranma."

"Okay, okay," Ranma said, motioning with her head toward the chef, "but
at least let's go someplace more private."

* * *

"WHAT did you say?" Akane asked, wide-eyed.

Ranma sighed and looked down at the ground.  She wasn't sure of things
herself; trying to explain them to Akane seemed like an impossibility.

"I said," she repeated, quietly, "I came back just after we got to the
fair."

"And you... you... you...?"

"I pretended to be Ranko," Ranma said, with a nod.

"B-but... but..."

"But why?" Ranma asked.  Akane managed a nod.  "I'm not really sure
why.

"It just seemed right," she continued, eyes softening, "I saw how
Ryouga was all depressed-lookin', and Ranko being around seems to
cheer him up so much.  I didn't want to spoil the night."

"You don't seriously expect me to believe you did all that for
him, do you?" Akane asked, incredulous.

"Gee, thanks for the support," Ranma said, looking up at Akane.
Her expression was one of genuine hurt.

"I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"Don't apologize," Ranma said with a sigh, looking away.  "You're
right."

"I am?"

Ranma nodded.  "I just... ever since this whole thing started, it's
been so hard.  I never know what I'm gonna be thinkin' in five minutes,
and it's real scary to not know that.

"Every mornin' when I open my eyes," she continued, "I'm never sure
if I'm in the real world or in there... inside.  But when I was out
there with Ryouga I felt... I dunno, safe.  Like there was nothin'
wrong at all.  Hell, I know that's only because of how Ranko feels 
about him, but it just felt so *good* to not be scared anymore."

Akane said nothing, unsure of what to say.  She felt angry with...
well, she wasn't sure if she felt angry with Ranma, or Ranko, or
both of them.  She knew what had happened wasn't all Ranma's fault,
but she couldn't blame Ranko for being in love.  She watched a tear
roll down Ranma's cheek, and sighed.  Life certainly was becoming
complicated.

"I'm sorry if I made you mad, I just... I couldn't help myself,"
Ranma said, sighing again.  She closed her eyes, more moisture rolling
down her cheeks.  "I hoped you wouldn't notice, and everything
would have been okay."

Akane bit her lip, then placed her arm over Ranma's shoulders.

"It's okay, Ranma," she said, softly, "I'm not mad.  I'm just
worried about you."

"Me too," Ranma said, quietly.  Akane pulled the redheaded girl
against her and hugged her gently, supportively.

"Don't worry, Ranma.  We'll figure out a way to get you back
to normal, no matter what it takes.  Ranma Saotome never loses,
right?"

"Right," said Ranma, a little more firmly.  "But does Ranko
Saotome lose?"

* * *

Akane rested her head on her hand and stared out through
the glass of her bedroom window.  It was raining outside,
and the window was beginning to fog over as the cold water
ran down the glass.  The wind howled as it rushed past
the house, sending a little shiver down Akane's spine.
It looked like it was bitterly cold out there by now.

The rain had begun while she was walking home from the
fair with Ranko.  Ryouga had bid them farewell and walked
off by himself a few minutes beforehand, which was inconvenient;
his umbrella would have come in handy.  However, they had
no umbrella, so rushed back home.  By the time they'd
arrived, however, they were soaked through.  Ranma had
traipsed water upstairs and disappeared into the bathroom,
presumably for a hot bath.  Akane, on the other hand, decided
to just dry off and go straight to bed.

Looking back, she regretted not having a bath after Ranma.
Maybe she wouldn't be feeling so cold if she had.

<Oh well,> she thought, idly twirling her pen between her fingers,
<No point worrying about that now.>  She looked back down at the
diary that lay open before her.

She'd written a fair amount; it was certainly an interesting
night that left her with no shortage of things to think about.
She reached down and stroked her fingertips gently over the
current page, the cool, smooth texture reminding her of the silk
of the kimono.  It had certainly been a nice one, and Ranko had
looked great in it.  Part of her was glad Ryouga had showed up;
if he hadn't, Ranma would have been complaining about it from
the moment he came back to the moment he changed out of it.
<Actually,> Akane pondered, <he probably would have complained 
about it for a while after he changed out of it.>

She chewed her lip as her thoughts turned to Ryouga.  He
seemed like a nice enough boy, and he was certainly friendly,
but Akane couldn't help feeling a level of resentment toward
him.  The things that had been happening lately weren't strictly
*his* fault, but Akane couldn't help but wonder if Ranma's 
behaviour would be affected to such a degree if it wasn't
for Ranko's strong feelings for Ryouga.  

She couldn't be sure of her feelings for Ranko.  She was
jealous of the ease with which she and Ryouga expressed their
feelings for each other, she knew that.  And angry at the
fact that she was taking Ranma away.  At the fair she'd told
Ranma she wasn't angry for what had happened, but as she
sat in her room the anger had come together into a fiery
little ball in her stomach, directed toward Ranko.

<But can I really blame her?> Akane pondered.  <I mean,
she's just trying to survive.  She doesn't want to hurt
Ranma.>

But she WAS hurting Ranma, and hurting Akane too.  Another
sigh drifted out to be lost amongst the pitter patter of
the raindrops on the window.  Ranko was a nice girl, but
if it came to a choice, she would choose Ranma in a
heartbeat.  But it didn't look like she would be the one
making the choice, if an opportunity presented itself.

<Perhaps Cologne would be able to help,> she thought,
chewing the end of her pencil.  <I mean, she must want
Ranma back to normal too.>

Her thoughts - and the doodling she had been unconsciously
doing on the page of the diary before her - were put aside
as she decided to call it a night.  She closed the diary,
placed the pen beside it, and turned off the light.  The
shroud of darkness swept across her eyes, leaving almost
as quickly as it came as her eyes adjusted to the moonlight
streaming in through the window.

She stepped over to her bed and sat down on it.  Placing
her hands on her knees, she bit her lip and pondered her
life for a few moments.

However, her thoughts were disturbed by a gentle rapping on 
the door.  She turned to face it, and called out.

"Come in."

The door slowly swung open, to reveal Ranma standing in the
hallway.  "Uh... hi."

"Hi," she replied, "I'm surprised you're not in bed yet.
Such a long performance must have tired you out."

Ranma sighed and stepped into Akane's room, closing the
door behind him.  He stepped over toward her bed and sat
down at the end of it, looking over at the desk where
Akane was sitting.  "I deserved that comment."

"That was quite a stunt you pulled," said Akane, folding
her arms.

"Look, Akane, I gotta talk to you about that."

"Don't bother," she replied, with a frown, "it was nothing."

"No," he said, shaking his head, "it wasn't nothing.  I
came to say... to say that I'm sorry for what happened.
What I did was stupid and selfish."

"But you ARE stupid and selfish, Ranma."

He sighed.  "Look, Akane.  I know what I did out there
hurt your feelings, and I'm sure Ranko feels terrible about
it too.  I was just tryin' to help and I really messed up.
I didn't mean to hurt your feelings like that."

"I appreciate your good intentions," she said, her frown
lifting a little, "but it hurts me to see you turning into
Ranko."

"I'm not turning into Ranko!" he replied quickly, standing up.

Akane sat in silence for a few moments while Ranma stared
at her, a frown on his face.  She looked down at her hands,
which were sitting in her lap.  She squeezed them together,
took a deep breath, and looked up at him again.

"Are you in love with Ryouga?"

Ranma blinked, his mouth hanging open for a few moments.  He
found his throat dry.  He swallowed, before managing to
speak.

"What did you say?"

"I want to know if you've fallen for Ryouga because of Ranko."

"For RYOUGA?  Hell, no!  What kind of stupid thing is that
to say?" he replied, angrily.

"I think you have," Akane said, softly.  Her gaze lowered once
again to her lap.  "I'm afraid you have."

"That is STUPID!" he snapped, "Sure, I LIKE the guy and all,
but it's not the same as how I feel about--"

He stopped, wide-eyed, as Akane's head snapped up to look
at him.  He gulped, and fell back down into a sitting position
on the bed.

"About who?" Akane asked, looking him right in the eyes.  He
sighed, and closed them.  

"...you."

"Oh," Akane replied, softly.  It was more a noise than a word;
a quiet, whispered noise of relief, happiness, and guilt.  She
squeezed her hands together and blushed, suddenly feeling
uncomfortable.  "I'm sorry for being mad at you.  I just... it's
scary, seeing you acting like you have been."

"I know," Ranma replied, quietly.  His own cheeks were burning,
as well.

"I was just afraid you were going to run off with him and leave
me here."

He stood and walked over to her, placing one hand on her shoulder
gently.  She looked up at him, hopefully.

"I won't," he said, softly, smiling a little, "I won't leave."

A smile came to her face - a fragile, fledgling little smile -
and her arms shot out around him, pulling him down toward her 
in a fierce hug.

"Promise?" she asked, a shaky whisper into his ear.

"I promise, Akane."

She sobbed as a geyser of emotions erupted; fear, anxiety, pain,
worry, happiness, elation and joy, the pent-up feelings of the past
few weeks all pouring out through her in one explosive burst.  
It was a relief; a release, an escape.  He'd finally said it.  The
object of her frustration, and infuriation, and of her affection,
and even of her love, had finally let down his emotional walls
for long enough to admit that he felt for her.

"I was so afraid," she whimpered, between sobs.

He pulled her back a little and stroked her cheek gently with
one hand, a smile on his face.  "Don't be, okay?  I'm here to
stay, no matter how much abuse I gotta take from a certain
tomboy around here."

The tears and sobbing stopped the moment his words entered her
ears.  She felt something happening; he'd called her a tomboy,
she felt an emotion that she thought was anger, or at least
annoyance.  But no.  This was Ranma, the Ranma she'd been so
afraid she'd lost, the Ranma she missed so much.  She did
indeed feel something happening, and when it actually happened
it surprised her as much as it surprised him.

She laughed.

Not a quiet laugh, no; a loud, genuine laugh from the pit of her
stomach.  She shook in his arms as she laughed, her eyes closing as
once again her emotions poured out, but through a different
medium.

The laughter eventually faded - unlike the tears, without any
intervention on Ranma's part - and when her eyes opened, she found
herself looking directly into his.  The residual smile from her
laughter slowly faded, as did the noise, leaving them silently
in each other's arms.  She found herself unable to take her eyes
from his.  It had happened before, but never like this, never
so real; she had never seen so much in his eyes before.  The
sparkling light of a billion stars seemed to shine through the
window with the sole purpose of illuminating those eyes.

"Ranma..." she whispered, penetrating the silence.  As it returned,
she became distinctly aware of the thrumming of their combined 
heartbeats against her chest.  The noise grew louder, drowning out
any conscious thoughts she had, and so it was purely guided by a
whim of her heart that her head lunged forward to meet his.

Her lips pressed into place against his, her eyes closing as the
heat of his lips pressed into hers.  A puff of breath escaped
through her nose as she brought her hands to his head, tilting
her own head to the side and pressing forward with more force.

Ranma, for his part, was enormously surprised to find himself
being kissed.  After a few moments of shock, his mind started 
racing, a million conflicting thoughts rushing through his 
consciousness in an instant.  He blinked a couple of times,
then found his eyes closing as, like Akane, his mind took a step
back and his heart took over.  His arms tightened around her and
lifted her slightly off the bed as he began to kiss her in
return.

* * *

He closed the door and stepped out into the hallway.  Sighing
thoughtfully, he took a step away from Akane's room.

<Ranma's going to KILL me,> Ranko thought, <what was I thinking?>

Kissing Akane?  That wasn't supposed to happen!  He was just
going to apologise on Ranma's behalf for what happened at the
fair, since it was mostly his fault -- but... what on earth
happened?  One moment he'd been apologizing, the next he had
Akane in his arms, kissing her with just as much passion as
any kiss shared with Ryouga.

<Akane would probably kill me too, if she knew it was me,> he
thought, shaking his head.  <Way to mess things up, Ranko.>

He felt immensely guilty for what had happened, and repeated
his apology over and over in his mind, hoping that Ranma would
hear, and understand.  He hadn't done it on purpose; *she*
kissed *him*, not the other way around.  If he'd pulled
away in fright, as his initial instinct had screamed for him
to, it probably would have been much worse.  Ranma would have
a hard time explaining it to Akane if he'd screamed and run
away as soon as she kissed him, wouldn't he?  Yes, it was
much better having happened the way it did.

He wouldn't tell Akane the truth, or Ryouga, and Ranma would
understand.  It would never happen again, and everything would
be all right.

<Her lips were so soft,> Ranko caught himself thinking, and
slapped his forehead in annoyance.  He quickly shook his head 
back and forth and rushed toward Ranma's room. He stepped into 
the room and closed the door behind him, leaning against it 
momentarily as a slight feeling of dizziness came over him, 
before turning away as it faded.  

<Odd,> he thought, <it must be because I'm not used to this
body.>

He stepped into the room, which was cold and dark, save for the
occasional flash of lightning outside.  The rain seemed to be
worsening into a storm; the sound of the rain falling against
the walls was much louder now than it had been earlier in the
night, when he was sitting in the furo.  He sat down, crosslegged,
in the middle of the room.

It was entirely possible, he reflected to himself, that the rain
was equally loud while he was in the bath, but he was too
preoccupied with being horrified at coming back to find a male
body waiting.  It had never happened before; fate seemed to be
conspiring to confuse both Ranko and Ranma about their respective
genders that night.  First the events at the fair, then the
discovery in the bath, then the conversation - and other events - 
in Akane's bedroom -- it was certainly a confusing night.

It angered him slightly that Akane thought so little of him, but 
as he thought it over, he reasoned that he didn't usually feel
anger, and as such it must be an effect of the merging in his
mind.  Perhaps the anger he felt was Ranma's anger over the kiss
he had shared with Akane.  He shuddered at that thought and
put it out of his mind.

From Akane's perspective, Ranma was slipping away and becoming
a girl.  From Ryouga's, Ranko was trapped inside Ranma's body
and trying desperately to escape.  He sighed as he pondered the
symmetry of the situation.  No solutions seemed to be presenting
themselves, and he knew that sitting around and waiting for
fate to solve the problem was unlikely to work.  He clasped his
hands together and concentrated.

It was somewhat ironic that fate chose that point to intervene;
Ranko tried to cry out as a pain exploded in his mind, but 
his yell of pain produced no sound.  He reached up and gripped
the sides of his head with both hands, rolling onto his back
and writhing on the floor as his mind seemed to take his
concentration and intensify it a thousandfold. 

A clap of thunder rolled across the night sky, the deep rumbling
accompanied by a flash of light that made Ranko shut his eyes
in agony as it tore blindingly through his mind, the explosion
of searing, white-hot light seeming to go on forever.

* * * 

Even after his body had slumped, unconscious, onto the floor,
the flash of light continued through his mind, illuminating the
deepest unexplored recesses.  Eventually it had to end, however,
and when it did, Ranko found himself - herself, it seemed - standing
alone once more in the darkness of the mind she shared with Ranma. 

Except she wasn't alone.

No, she could feel another presence with her in the inky blackness.
As she turned around to face it, a gust of cold wind blew past her
from behind, sending her hair - once again long, unfettered, the dragon
whisker and pigtail seemingly gone - up over her shoulders to dance in 
the current of the breeze, swirling in front of her face and obscuring
her vision.  

Her hands rose instinctively to her face and pulled the hair back,
her eyes closing; as she did, the breeze seemed to disappear.  Her 
hair once again drooped and she let it go, allowing it to fall down 
onto her shoulders once more.  She opened her eyes and looked
ahead, only to find him looking back at her.

Ranma.

He said nothing and did not move; he stayed perfectly still and
stared at her with piercing eyes.  For a time she found herself
unable to tear her gaze from his stunning eyes, that seemed to
penetrate her very soul.

She swallowed, and blinked; this broke her out of her reverie, and
she found herself able to look at him without getting lost in his
eyes.  He was wearing unsurprising attire - his usual pants, and
a white, longsleeved, Chinese silk shirt.  

Looking down at herself, she found herself dressed in the same.  
The clothes were too big for her, of course; the clothes Ranma wore 
were always better suited to the male body than the female.  The 
waist of the pants was held in place with a silk sash a small distance 
below her breasts, and the white shirt hung on her small frame baggily,
its colour a sharp contrast to the fiery red strands of hair hanging
over her shoulders.

She returned her gaze to Ranma and found that his shirt was likewise
marked with red, but lower; a dark red stain marked the front, over
his chest.  It seemed to grow a little bigger as Ranko watched,
eliciting a gasp as she realized it was blood.  She took a couple
of steps toward him.

"Ranma..." she said, staring at the stain before looking up at
his face, "you're bleeding."

"It's nothing," he replied coolly, tilting his head down to look
at her, "I'm fine."

"It doesn't look fine to me," she said, reaching toward his chest,
"It looks serio--"

She stopped speaking, blinking in surprise as Ranma's hand whipped
up from his waist to grab her wrist and hold it.  "No.  Don't."

"You can't just ignore it, Ranma!  Let me look at it."

He tightened his grip on her wrist and yanked it down, away from
his chest, in a powerful motion; Ranko let out a yelp as her wrist
was sharply tugged.

"Don't," he said, simply.

"Why won't you let me help?" she asked, looking up at him with wide
eyes, "You're injured!  I can-- YAAH!"

Ranko cried out as Ranma once more yanked her wrist, twisting it
painfully away from him.  "Don't!"

"Ranma!" she cried, tears coming to her eyes as his tight grip sent
pain shooting up through her arm, "You're hurting me!"

His eyes flew wide open and his jaw dropped, his mouth hanging slackly
open as he stared into her teary eyes.  His grip loosened and his hand
pulled away from hers as he took a shaky step backwards.

"I... I'm sorry..." he said, weakly, shaking his head, "I didn't mean to 
hurt... yaargh!" 

He dropped to one knee, his hands shooting to his chest and grabbing at
it, the blood-soaked material in his hands dripping the warm liquid 
over his twitching fingers as his eyes closed tightly.

"Ranma!" she cried, stepping forward with one arm held toward him.

"No!" he yelled, jumping to his feet, "Stay back!"

"You have to let me help you!  You're going to bleed to death!"

"You can't!" he snarled, one twitching hand still clutching the front
of his shirt,  "You did this to me!"

"What...?" she stammered, taking a step back, "I didn't!"

"You DID!" he spat, a bloodied finger pointing at her, "Why did
you have to do it?  I can't make the choice!  I can't decide,
Ranko!  Nobody could do that!"

Ranko swallowed, bewildered, her mouth dry.  She'd always considered
herself to know more than Ranma about the situation between them,
but she was rapidly discovering there was much she didn't understand.
She had no idea what Ranma was talking about.  All she knew was that
he was hurt and refused her help.

"Choice...?" she said, eventually, "What choice?"

"The choice!" he shrieked, tears filling his eyes, "You know damn
well what the choice is!"

"I don't!" she cried, shaking her head, "I don't know!  What did
I do?!  I don't understand!"

"You did this!" he yelled, his hands gripping his shirt.  He yanked
powerfully, tearing the shirt open, exposing his blood-drenched
chest.  Across it was carved a perfectly circular yin-yang symbol,
its precise shape a cruel contradiction to the uncontrolled flow
of blood that ran down his chest.

Blood dripped from the symbol as his chest rose and fell with his
shaky breath; he again fell to one knee, wincing, and placed both 
hands flat on the black surface below him for support.  "It wasn't 
there until you came along!  And it didn't hurt until you interfered!  
Why couldn't you leave me alone?"

"I didn't... I didn't do anything!" Ranko said, bewildered, "I
couldn't..."

"You're killing me!" choked Ranma, looking up at her with pain
in his eyes.

"No!"

* * *

Genma nodded gratefully as Kasumi poured the tea into his cup.  
Soun had been fighting more vigourously lately and Genma had
found himself in the koi pond after their morning sparring
session.  Soun had laughed it off, apologizing amusedly, and
Genma had taken a swipe at him, naturally, but inside it 
reminded him of his fights with Ranma, and bought a smile
to his face.

He gripped the sides of the cup and bought it slowly to his
face, tilting it back and taking a sip.  Some of the warm
liquid dribbled out of the side of his muzzle and ran through
his white fur, staining as it went.

He placed the cup down on the table and picked up a small
napkin, dabbing it delicately to his mouth in a manner entirely
unbecoming of a lumbering panda.  He'd learned to accept the
fact he would have to continually dab at his face throughout
a meal, but it was a mild source of irritation that he couldn't
get the hang of drinking properly.

Soun, for his part, continued eating his food, talking in
spirited tones with Nabiki.  He seemed pleased at winning
the fight and paid no attention as Genma daubed away the
tea; it was a regular occurrence now and he paid it no mind.

Kasumi sat down after returning the tea kettle to its place
on the table, and as Soun and Nabiki's conversation finished,
breakfast passed in silence, save for the quiet sounds of
people eating food, and the slightly louder sounds of birds
singing outside.

Soun leaned back and smiled, enjoying the sun on his back
as he ate.  No matter what the circumstances around him were,
he felt that today was perfect, and nothing could spoil it.

Nothing, that is, but what was actually about to happen.

Akane's high-pitched scream rang through the air; Soun
jumped to his feet instinctively, rushing over toward the
stairs in time to see Akane barreling down them, leaping
down four steps at a time, squealing hysterically for
her father.

"Daaaad!  DAD!" she cried, crashing into his outstretched
arms, and nearly knocking him back.

"Akane!  What's wrong?" he asked, eyes wide, as Genma
and the others rushed over toward them.

"It's Ranma!" she wailed, "Help him!"

Soun looked back over his shoulder at Genma, who took the
hint and charged up the stairs.

* * *

Ranma sat crosslegged in the dark expanse that was his
mind.  A sigh escaped him and echoed on through the
ebony nothingness that stretched endlessly beyond him.
This was what he hated most about the whole thing; being
trapped inside, alone, for hours, days on end.  Lonely.
Silent.  

He hated not knowing what was going on around him in the 
real world.  Being unsure of where he would wake up.  What 
if he got trapped here during a fight?  Ranko couldn't 
fight her way out of a paper bag.  He shuddered at the 
endless possibilities.  He didn't like to think of things 
like that, but the void was even more quiet than usual.

<Ranko must be asleep,> he pondered to himself, <Wish
I could get some sleep.>

Such thoughts left him as he heard a faint voice calling
out his name.  It was distant, and quiet, but the echo
was unmistakable.

"Ranma... help me..."

Jumping to his feet, Ranma sprinted toward the source of
the voice.  A vague shape in the distance was all he could
make out amongst the endless black; he wondered how the voice
had carried so far.

The shape seemed to be white, although as he squinted, Ranma
could make out a vague pinprick of red.  Red?

"It couldn't be..." he said aloud as he ran, "Ranko?"

His suspicion was confirmed as he neared her; Ranko lay on
her back, her long red locks tangled, strewn over the shoulders
of her torn white shirt.  She breathed heavily, the silken 
strands of her hair rising and falling on her chest with 
her shaky breath.  Her feminine frame seemed to be shivering 
as she gulped for air.  A large purple bruise covered her 
left arm, and her pants were also torn along the legs.

She managed to lift her head a little as he approached, her eyes
taking a few moments to focus on him as he knelt down at her
feet.

"Ranma... thank you," she breathed.  She swallowed and spoke
again, the words coming slowly, painfully, to her.  "I think
my leg is broken... it hurts!  Please... help me!"

"Who did this to you?!" he asked, curling one hand into
a fist.  His eyes moved to her leg, which looked to be broken
at the shin.

"I don't know... I can't remember," she whispered, her head
dropping back again.  "It hurts so much!  I'm afraid, Ramna.
You have to help me!"

"Don't worry," he said, his confident tone not betraying his
concern, "I'll get you to some help."

He crawled forward alongside her and turned.  Pulling her 
torso up, he supported her as much as he could.  "Can you
wrap your arms around my neck?"

"I... I don't know," she whimpered, trying to move.

"Come on," he encouraged, holding her up as best he could,
"you can do it."

"Okay," she replied, quietly, and strained to move her arms.
It worked; slowly they lifted and wrapped weakly around his
strong neck from behind.

"Good," he said, nodding, and lifted her waist with him as
he stood, pulling her up into a piggyback position.  His arms 
hooked themselves under her thighs and held her against his 
back as he stood, her legs poking out through his arms and 
dangling limply in front of him.  She wobbled a bit, her 
arms loosening, but he leaned forward and she seemed to 
grow more steady.

"Careful," he said, tightening his grip on her thighs, "I
gotcha.  Just hang on, I'll help ya, okay?"

"Okay," she replied, barely more than a whisper.  Ranma
turned his head and looked back at her; her head was
resting on his shoulder, bouncing limply as he began to
step forward, her eyes closing and staying closed.

He took a step forward, then another, then another.  As
he trudged forward with her on his back he became acutely
aware of the fact that she weighed far more than she should.
She was a small girl, but she felt like a lead weight on
his back.  His legs wavered a bit as he struggled; he didn't
even know where he was taking her.  Help?  He didn't know
where he could take her.  He didn't even know if anything
existed in the expanse of darkness before him except for
the two of them.

But no, she needed his help.  He was strong.  He would
carry her to safety, even if he didn't know where safety
was.  He steeled himself, straightened his legs, and took
one step, then another, then another.

* * *

Ryouga yawned and twirled his umbrella idly in his hand as
he stretched his back.  Spending the night on a tile roof 
was all very well for watching the stars, but it was hell
on the back.

He'd made a conscious effort to remain near Ranko since
returning to Nerima.  After all, he had vowed to protect
her.  So far he had managed to stay in Tokyo since returning,
which was great progress.  His plan to stay on the roof
of the house opposite the Tendo dojo was a brilliant way
to stay nearby without being intrusive.

It was a plan with a few minor drawbacks, he reflected, as 
he reached back to rub the small of his back, stretching 
again  to get rid of the last little ache.  He had enjoyed 
the previous night at the fair, and his discussion with 
Akane had alleviated some of the guilt he felt over having 
fun with Ranko while she was around.

It was a sunny day; he squinted a little as he looked across 
at the rising sun.  It shone brightly, the golden rays of 
morning light spreading out across the city around him.  He 
smiled.  The world seemed a much brighter place when Ranko 
was nearby.

A movement caught the edge of his vision.  He shifted his 
eyes to catch it, then turned his head.  It was just a flash 
of white that emerged from the front door and quickly 
disappeared  behind the front gate.  The gate was pulled 
open, and Mr. Saotome emerged in panda form, looked left and 
then right, then turned and rushed off, Akane rushing close 
behind him.

Ryouga tilted his head, then noticed something else; the 
panda was carrying somebody, slumped over his shoulder.  
Ryouga jumped to his feet as he realized who it was; springing 
forward from the roof, he landed on the fence in front of 
the house he had slept on, then vaulted up into the air, 
somersaulted, and landed on his feet.

Akane and Mr. Saotome were rapidly disappearing into the 
horizon, and Ryouga gave chase.  He knew he couldn't lose 
sight of them or he'd never find them again.

* * *

Sweat dripped from Ranma's forehead as he took another laboured
step.  He'd been marching on for - well, a long time.  He had no
idea how long it had been.  Ranko's body was slumped against his
back limply now, her arms holding onto his neck with no strength.
He felt her warm breath washing over the back of his neck in a
steady rhythm, and guessed she was asleep.  She had seemed
exhausted when he found her; it was probably for the best that
she rest.

A frown creased his forehead.  Other than the fourteen drops of
sweat that had passed in front of his eyes in the past few
minutes, the view had changed very little in the entire time
he had been walking.  Not at all, in fact.  He fought back the
feeling of hopelessness that threatened to encroach upon his
mind and marched on.  He'd been hunched over for far too long.
His back was hurting, his arms were hurting, his legs were 
hurting.  Everything was hurting.

His left arm twinged suddenly, a sharp pain coursing through
his forearm for a moment as his muscles protested to the heavy
weight forced upon them.  The pain made his arm tighten a
little on Ranko's leg - the first motion it had made since he
had started walking.  This was enough to jostle the leg, and with 
a groan she awoke as the pain from her leg registered in her 
consciousness.  She inhaled sharply and held her breath as the 
throbbing pain stabbed at her leg, her hands tightening on the 
front of Ranma's shirt.

After a moment the pain subsided and her hands loosened their
grip on Ranma.  Her heavy breath ruffled his hair as she exhaled,
the air rushing out of her lungs.

"Sorry," Ranma said, struggling not to pant, "didn't mean to
wake ya."

"It's okay," she replied, her voice still shaky, "don't be hard 
on yourself.  It's sweet of you to do this for me, Ranma."

"It's no problem," he lied, shaking his fringe out of his eyes.

"I mean it," she continued, quietly.  "Thank you for doing this,
Ranma.  I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown
up."

"Does it still hurt?" he asked, changing the subject.  He felt
uncomfortable accepting praise from her.

"It does," she replied, with a nod, "but not as much as it did
before."

"That's good," he said, with a nod, trying to convince himself
that he was achieving something; that his trek into the void
was not in vain.  "Definitely good."

She rested her head on his shoulders, and silence once again
surrounded them.

* * *

Ranko wiped gently at Ranma's forehead with the rapidly
diminishing clean part of the bloodied shirt she had removed 
from him.  His brow was covered with sweat again only a few 
moments later.  His injuries seemed to be causing him to go 
into a fever.  She wondered if it was some sort of infection 
in the chest wound, a worried frown crossing her face.

She had briefly pondered trying to find a way out, a way
to get help for him, but didn't want to risk going off on her
own in case she couldn't find her way back, and didn't want to
carry him with her, as she knew she couldn't carry him far.

So she stayed with him, his wounded body propped up against
her as she knelt by his head.  His protests had been loud at
first, but lacking the strength to even stand, he could do
little to refuse her help.  As time progressed they grew
quieter, until eventually he stopped protesting at all.

His eyes were barely open as she looked down at them; she
stroked his cheek, knowing he was on the brink of 
unconsciousness.

"Stay with me," she whispered, "fight it.  You're a fighter,
Ranma.  Fight it."

His eyes twitched, rolling slowly back to look up at her
face.  They seemed to dilate a little, and he blinked a
couple of times as they focussed.  A frown briefly hovered
over them, but disappeared, his body too weak to maintain
anger.  He exhaled a long, slow breath, trying to speak
but producing little more than a hoarse whisper.

"Shh," Ranko said softly, stroking his hair back from his
wet forehead, "don't speak.  Save your strength."

She felt guilty as she watched him.  His last spoken words
were angry ones, directed at her for causing his injury.  She
had no idea what he was talking about; she could remember
nothing about injuring him in any way.  He seemed adamant,
insisting that she had injured him in such a horrible way.
She shuddered as she looked down at the symbol in his chest,
the pool of blood below them expanding slowly as time passed.

She could not have done such a thing to him.  She closed her
eyes and sighed.  She didn't know how she'd gotten here, she 
didn't know why Ranma was here with her, she didn't know why 
he was injured, she didn't know what she was to do or where 
she was to turn.

<God, I wish Ryouga were here,> she thought to herself, a
tear coming to her eye, <at least I wouldn't be alone.>

A voice came from behind her, snapping her out of her
thoughts.

"Hey.  Hey!"

It was Ranma's voice.  Ranma?  Ranko opened her eyes and 
looked down at Ranma, in her lap.  He was still on the verge 
of unconsciousness.  There was no way he could have said 
anything. She shook herself, frowning at her overactive 
imagination.

"Hey!  Over here!"

The voice again.  Ranko blinked a couple of times.  She had
been looking at Ranma the whole time and he'd said nothing,
but it was definitely his voice.  That could only mean...

Ranko turned her head and looked over her shoulder.  A
surprised-looking boy sporting a pigtail stopped walking 
toward her as she looked, a very familiar-looking redhead 
on his back.  He looked up over his shoulder at the girl on 
his back, and then across to Ranko.  A moment's silence 
passed, both looking at the other and their motionless 
companion.

The silence was broken by two voices asking in unison, "Who
are you?"

* * *

"Physically, there's nothing wrong with him," Dr Tofu 
stated, two fingers probing Ranma's neck, "his breathing is 
normal, his pulse is normal."

"But he's not..." Akane began, quietly.

"I know," Tofu replied, with a nod.  He reached up to Ranma's
face and pulled one of his eyes open, looking down into it as
the bright lights overhead shone down.  The pupil shrank a 
little, but the eye remained as it was, staring unseeingly 
into the distance.  With a frown, Tofu released Ranma's eyelid 
and  looked up.  "He just isn't home."

"What do you mean?" asked Genma, now human.

"It looks like he's in a type of coma," Tofu explained, 
snapping his fingers off to one side of Ranma's head, and 
narrowing his eyes a little as Ranma turned his head slightly 
toward the noise.  "I haven't had extensive training about them, 
but you can see that he's reacting to stimuli reflexively only 
and doesn't seem to be able to perceive the world around him."

"What does that mean?" Akane asked, a frightened expression 
on her face.

"His body is fine," Tofu said, leaning back from Ranma, "but 
his mind seems to be... switched off."

Kasumi clasped her hands together and looked down at Ranma's
face, not paying attention to the rest of the conversation.  
She had arrived only a few moments ago, and as such had also 
missed the start of the conversation.  Akane and Dr. Tofu were 
so engaged in their conversation neither had noticed her enter, 
although Mr. Saotome had seen her and brought her over to Ranma.
She had heard enough of the conversation to begin piecing 
together an idea of what was going on.  She was no nurse - 
heavens, no - but she had been around her martial artist 
family and their friends long enough to see similar things.

Once, she recalled, long ago, Akane was practicing on her 
brick breaking.  She hadn't been doing it for very long, and 
wasn't very good at it yet.  She was overly enthusiastic; bubbling 
with energy as she always was when practicing her art.  Her mind 
had no focus as she struck the brick, and it was her wrist that 
yielded instead of the concrete.  It wasn't broken, but it was 
sprained severely and took quite some time to heal.

The thing that was of interest to Kasumi was the way Akane 
immediately drew her arm sharply back from the brick and tucked 
it in against her chest, withdrawing it quickly from the source 
of the pain and holding it in a safe place.  An instinctive 
reflex of the body; her wrist cried out in alarm, her instincts 
immediately took over control of the arm and took it from the 
source of the pain.  

In the case of the brick breaking exercise, Akane's instinctual 
behaviour had not helped much, but as Kasumi looked down at 
Ranma's  body, his head again turning as Genma clapped his 
hands together to test Dr. Tofu's theory, she reflected that - 
perhaps - it might work for him.

She looked across at Ryouga, who was standing quietly near 
Ranma's other side, his face neutral.  Kasumi tilted her head 
slightly, peering at him, wondering what he was thinking.  She 
wasn't as oblivious as most people assumed, and she knew about 
Ryouga's feelings for Ranko.  She could see hope - the same 
hope she felt - in his eyes.

<Although,> she thought, <his hope is probably for a different
result.>

* * *

Ranko looked down at the two figures on the ground in front of 
her.  Ranma was covered in blood, his eyes now closed.  The 
other Ranko - it was truly bizarre for Ranko to be watching 
herself - sat nearby, tending to her broken leg, wincing every 
time she touched it.  She was much more alert than Ranma; her 
injuries seemed far less dire, and she had apparently slept during 
the journey she had made.

She bit her lip as she watched the pitiful motions of her other 
self, and clasped her hands together in front of her.  Anxiety was 
building up inside her and she found it increasingly hard to 
concentrate and shut her emotions out.  She sank to her knees, a 
sudden realization that she was exhausted overwhelming her.  She 
was confused and frightened, and the stress was taking its toll 
on her.  No matter how hard she tried to think straight she could 
do nothing but indulge her mind's desire to dwell on the horrific 
nothingness that entrapped her.

A sob echoed out from her as she gave in to the encroaching 
despair, the everpresent optimism and joy for living that defined 
her beginning to crumble away as the tears flowed from her eyes.  
Ranma lay before her, dying, and she knew there was nothing she 
could do.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at the uninjured 
Ranma, blinking her tears away as he looked down at her with 
concern.

"Hey, you okay?"

She tried to nod and smile, but only managed to break out into 
another fit of sobbing.  She had no idea how to cope with something 
like this!  It was just too bizarre, too hard for her to come to 
terms with.  All she wanted was a quiet life under the stars with 
Ryouga; was that a crime worthy of this punishment?  

She felt so cold, so lonely; this was the closest she had ever 
been to Ranma, the other half of her body, but she had never 
felt more alone in her entire life.  The endless black of the 
mind she was in normally did not bother her, but the sense of 
finality that came from being trapped inside _with_ Ranma - the 
only other person who understood the life she lived when she was 
not in control of the physical body, the only other person who 
could come in from the outside and release her - made her realize 
that she was quite possibly never going to escape.

She knew it was absurd to be giving up hope so soon, but there
was something about the endless void around her that was sapping
her emotional strength away, leaving her open and helpless.

Ranma kneeled next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder,
leaning forward to look at her face.  Ranko knew that he wanted 
to take the injured pair and continue his search for 'help' - 
whatever the hell that was - and she was only slowing him down.

"We should go," she managed through her sobs, "and get help for
them."

"We ain't going nowhere until you tell me what's wrong," Ranma
replied.

She looked up at him, the intense determination in his eyes
strangely different from the concern that dominated the rest of
his face.

"I'm afraid," she answered, honestly.  She felt another wave
of tears coming to her eyes and sobbed; the next thing she knew
his arms were around her, holding her to him.  His hand held
her head against his chest.  She cried, wetting his shirt with
her plentiful tears.

"I'm afraid too," he answered, after a time.  It was a whisper,
a quiet admission of the fear he had been ashamed to show.  He
would never have said it in the real world, but as he held Ranko
in his arms he felt a feeling of closeness, a bond of trust
between them.  "I've never been this afraid before."

She pulled back a little and looked up at him, the tearstained
cheeks of her petite face glistening in the light, and blinked 
a couple of times.  Her eyes widened as his words sank in.  

His very presence radiated confidence and strength, the defining
aspect of his existence was his determination and tenacity.  And
yet, here he was, trusting her enough to open up and tell the
truth, that he wasn't the invincible warrior that he tried to be.  
Ranko felt a sense of... hope.  A small feeling that perhaps things
were going to be okay.  It wasn't much, but it was enough to push
back the feelings of despair.

"Thank you... Ranma," she said, softly, "I'm glad I'm not alone."

He said nothing, instead looking over at the other pair.  His
eyes narrowed, his lips tightening as he tried to concentrate on
the current situation.

"I don't know what we can do," he said, at length.  "I was walkin'
for hours and didn't see anything special until I ran into you
guys."

"I know," she replied, quietly, "but there's *got* to be some help
out there somewhere."

"I dunno," he said with a sigh, "I really dunno."

Ranko looked up at him with sad eyes and was about to speak again,
but he beat her to it, a small smile coming to his face.

"But we'll never find out if we don't look, right?"

A smile came to her lips.  A hesitant, fragile smile - unsure of
whether it should be where it was, ready to run away and hide
at the slightest provocation - but a smile nonetheless.  "Right."

He saw her smile, and encouraged by its presence, put his hand on
her shoulder.  "We'll make it through this just fine.  Together."

"Together," she replied, quietly.  She looked up at his face. 
Normally so aggressive and egotistic, but as she stared at him
she could see herself reflected in his eyes.  His capacity for
kindness shone brightly through to her like a beacon and she
felt immensely warmed by it.

"You're him," she said, after a moment.  Half question, half
statement of fact.

"Who?"

"Ranma Saotome.  You're Ranma Saotome."

"Well, uh, yeah," he replied, one eyebrow raised.  "You sure
you're doin' okay?"

"I'm doing much better now," she replied, looking over at the
injured pair, then back at him.  It was so obvious!  Why hadn't
she realized sooner?  "I think I'm beginning to understand,
Ranma!  *You* are *Ranma*!"

"I don't get what that has to--"

"Don't you see?" she asked, pulling back from him.  She turned
to face the other Ranma - the angry, dying Ranma - and knelt
next to him.

"He," she said, pointing, "isn't Ranma.  *You* are Ranma."

"How'd you know?" he asked, stepping up behind her.

"And she," she continued, pointing to the feeble, injured copy
of herself, "isn't Ranko.  *I'm* Ranko.  Ranko Saotome!"

"How'd you know?" he repeated, his curiousity aroused.  He had
no way of knowing which one of the Rankos were real, or indeed
if he were the true Ranma - or if the real Ranma lay dying before
him.

"It all makes sense!" she cried, jumping to her feet.  She whirled
on Ranma, the excitement of her discovery obvious in her expression.
"I know what they are!"

"Mind telling me?" asked Ranma, his hands on his hips, a puzzled
expression on his face.

* * *

The clinic - like much of Nerima - was almost pitch black, a few 
pale moon rays the only source of light.  Three forms lay unmoving;
two asleep, one still unconscious.  Ryouga lay on the floor, his
back propped up by a wall, his everpresent backpack next to him.
Akane lay curled sideways on a chair, a sweater draped over her.
Ranma lay silently on the examination table, as he had been for
several hours, long after all but Akane and Ryouga had returned
home.

The night was still; the occasional breath of wind that crept
through the clinic windows did little more than slightly rustle
the hair of the three occupants.  The deathly silence that hung
over the motionless forms of the slumbering trio gave a false
sense of serenity; in truth, the dreams of all three were troubled.

The heavy silence was held in check by two noises. One was the 
regular mechanical ticking of the clock that hung on the wall, 
which may as well not have been there, for nobody paid it any 
mind.  The other noise was far more interesting.  It was an odd 
sound, a dull tapping noise;  irregular, intermittant.  But there 
nonetheless.  The sound of several fingertips tapping 
spasmodically against a wooden surface.  It was not a loud 
noise in any regard, but that did not matter.  It could have 
been a hundred times quieter and still have had the same effect.
It took only a few repetitions of the sound to set events into 
motion.

Ryouga had spent much time on the road, and just as much off it;
wandering aimlessly through forests, across mountain ranges, through
grassy plains, over seemingly endless deserts.  During the time he 
had spent travelling he had learned that the night was not a safe 
time to be out on one's own.  Aside from the dangers of pneumonia
or other medical problems related to the cold conditions of sleeping
out in the open night after night, there was always the chance of
being awoken by a wild animal, angry Amazon warrior, armed thief,
or any other number of dangerous creatures.

On more than one occasion he had found himself waking to the sight
of somebody searching through his possessions.  It was little more
than an annoyance most of the time - his earthly possessions were
far too meagre to interest even the most desperate of thieves - 
although occasionally they were armed with knives or some other 
type of dangerous weapon.  Over the years, Ryouga's sense of 
hearing had adapted to the point where the slightest of suspiscious 
noises could bring him from his slumber.  After all, better to be 
woken earlier and be able to diffuse the situation before it 
progressed any further than it need to, than to wake up almost 
too late and have to fight off an intruder, ne?

It was this keenly developed sense of hearing that acknowledged
the tapping noise and brought him out of his sleep.  He awoke without
a sound, as he had taught himself to, his eyelids the only part of
his body that moved.  His breathing pattern did not adjust, his
heart rate did not speed up; if not for his open eyes, an observer
would be hard pressed to guess he was not asleep.

His eyes made a search of the surrounds, trying to spy the source
of the noise and decide the best course of action.  What his
sharply-honed instincts were not ready for, however, was the sight
of Ranma's hand tapping on the surface of the table beneath him.

With a start, Ryouga jumped to his feet and stepped over to the
table, his now wide eyes flitting back and forth between Ranma's
face and the active hand that twitched randomly against the
wood.

His pulse quickened as he watched the fingertips tapping.  Unsure
of what to do, he did the first thing that came to mind.

"Ranma...?"

Akane might not have had the benefit of Ryouga's journeying experience,
but her sense of hearing picked up on the sound of his voice and 
brought her from her slumber.  Her eyes opened slowly, blinking a 
couple of times to clear the fuzziness that obscured her vision, and
as they focussed properly she was greeted by the sight of a very
anxious-looking Ryouga standing over Ranma's body.  His face was pale,
even considering the white moonlight that lit it.

She sat up slowly, her back complaining loudly about the uncomfortable
position she had slept in, and stretched to bring some relief.  She
leaned forward and stood, clutching the sweater against her to keep
in the warmth of her body.

"Ryouga?  What is it?"

"Come look," he replied, glancing briefly at her before returning
his attention to Ranma.

She stepped over toward him, her gaze fixed on his startled expression
until she was standing next to him.  She lowered her eyes slowly,
unsure of what she was supposed to be looking for, until she saw it.

"His hand!" she exclaimed, in a whisper.  She looked up at Ranma's
face, then back at Ryouga, her eyes now as wide as his.  Her mouth
opened, but he spoke before she could.

"I just noticed it a minute ago," he said, answering her unasked question.
"Do you think it means...?"

"I... I don't know what it means," she replied, looking back down
at the hand.  "Maybe it means he's coming out of it?"

"I guess all we can do is wait," Ryouga replied, quietly.  And so
the two stood silently, listening intently to the quiet tapping.

* * *

Ranko sat back on her feet as she knelt, her hands clasped in front
of her.  She had explained it twice to Ranma but he still didn't
understand.  Most people would start to feel frustrated at this
point, but Ranko did not.  In fact, she appreciated having to
repeat her idea; a deeper understanding seemed to come to her
each time she explained.  It also gave her something to occupy her
mind with - something to force out the inky blackness around
her.  Her mood had improved drastically, and she felt more like
her old self.

Ranma knelt beside her, also looking at the injured pair.  His
face bore an expression of confusion, but not as strongly as before.
He was beginning to understand - but it would take time.  Ranko
looked away from her injured duplicate and calmly turned her head
to Ranma.  A reassuring smile came to her lips, and Ranma matched
it with one of his own.  He knew she would explain it until he 
understood it. Patience was one of her virtues, after all.

The first time she'd explained it he had no clue what she was talking
about.  She seemed insistent that they did not need to get help for
the injured versions of themselves, which went against every instinct
he had.  However, she had urged him to trust her, and after no small
amount of thinking, he had agreed to at least hear her out until he
understood what she was trying to say, and make a decision then.

"So you're sayin' they're... what, dreams?" he ventured, his hands
on his knees, his gaze flicking over to his duplicate then back to
Ranko's face.

"No, not quite," she replied.

"What, then?"

"They're more like..." she began, sinking into a thoughtful silence
as she considered the best word to describe them, "...um.  Images.
No, wait.  Perceptions.  Yeah, perceptions."

"Perceptions...?" he asked, "How'd you mean?  I thought you said they
were like dreams."

"They are, sorta," she replied, with a nod, "let me think of the best
way to describe it... it's hard to explain what I mean.

"Oh!  It's like," she continued, after a lengthy pause, "remember when
you first met Kuno?"

"Do I ever," came the reply, with a roll of the eyes.

"You remember when he first, um, told you that was in love with you?"

"Uh... yeah," came the hesitant reply, accompanied by a reddening of
Ranma's cheeks.

"That night you had a dream about him," Ranko continued, quietly.

"What?!" came the startled reply.  Ranma looked at her wide-eyed for
a few moments, then looked down at his knees, before lifting his eyes
to look back up at her.  "You know 'bout that?"

She nodded.  "It's the kind of thing I'm talking about."

Ranma shuddered.  That dream - that *nightmare* - was not something he
wanted to remember.  But, somehow, the fact that she already knew about
it, and understood - and did not think him some sort of pervert because
of it - made it easier for him to talk about it.

"But what's that got to do with this?" he asked, pointing to his injured
self.

"In that dream," Ranko explained, "you saw Kuno as some lust-crazed
pervert after your body even though you're a boy.  But, you were stuck 
as a girl.  Surrounded by him, unable to escape."

"But Kuno IS a pervert after my body," Ranma replied, bitterly.  "My
*girl* body, that is," he added, quickly, just to make sure Ranko knew
what he meant.

Ranko couldn't help but giggle.  Ranma's annoyed glare quickly stopped
her, however, and she continued explaining.  "That's not the point.  In
that dream, Kuno was a symbol of your perception of him, and your own
body was how see yourself in that situation.  You're angry, but ultimately 
unable to do much about it.  Stuck as a girl, so to speak."

"Huh," Ranma replied, with a snort, "I can beat the hell outta him."

"But you don't," Ranko noted.

"Well, not really," admitted Ranma, with a nod, "he's not as good as me,
so I don't pick on him too much."

"So you're powerless to stop him," continued Ranko, "not because you
can't do anything about it, but because your honour won't allow you to."

"I guess you're right."

"Now I'm no Freud," Ranko said, with a smile, "but when you live inside
somebody's mind for as long as I have, you start to get an idea about 
how it works.  That kind of symbolism in your dreams is the same kind 
of thing that I think is happening here."

"Freud?"

Ranko smiled.  "Never mind.  Do you see what I'm getting at?"

"I think so.  So these two are perceptions, yeah?"

"Right."

"But of what?"

"I have an idea about that," Ranko said, narrowing her eyes ever so
slightly in thought, "but I'm not sure."

"What's the idea?"

"Well, I think they are how we perceive each other."

"You think?" Ranma wondered, looking over at the pair with a new 
interest.

"I think that the Ranko over there is how you perceive me."

"What about the other me?"

"How I perceive you."

"So, what," he questioned, looking at her critically, "you want me 
dead?"

"No, no, that's not how it works!" she replied quickly, shaking her 
head.  He folded his arms and looked at her with an expression that
indicated he wasn't entirely ready to believe her.  She frowned, 
wondering how he could think she would want such a thing, and folded 
her own arms in retaliation.

"I could ask why you want to break the leg of a girl, Ranma," she 
added, quietly, her face a show of total seriousness.  His expression
quickly changed to one of surprise and denial, both hands shooting up
between them in a defensive gesture.

"Wait a minute!  I never said--"

"Relax, I was just kidding," she said, raising one hand to quiet him, 
a quirky smile coming to her face, "like I said, that's not how it 
works.  It's all symbolic, that's how this kind of thing is."

"All right, I get the point," he admitted, with a shrug, "so what do
they mean?"

"Here's how I see it.  Ranko over there is how you view me," she began,
looking at her duplicate carefully, piecing together the image that it
portrayed.  After a time, she drew her conclusion.  "Weak."

Ranma winced.  "Uh..."

"Fragile."

Another wince.  "Well, ah..."

"A lost little girl that needs protection," she concluded, the smile 
gone from her face.  "And you were there, carrying me to safety."

This produced no wince; Ranma instead sat in silence, looking at her.  
His silent gaze was met by a solemn one.

"Am I that much of a burden on you?" she asked, in a broken whisper.

"No..."

"Tell me the truth, Ranma," she insisted, her eyes softening.  He 
turned his head away and closed his eyes.

"All right, I admit it," he said with a sigh, after several moments 
of silence.  "I was afraid that if you took over for good that you'd 
be too weak to take care of yourself, and the dojo wouldn't have 
anyone to inherit it and look after it."

"I guess that explains the broken leg," Ranko commented.  Ranma looked 
back over to her, only to see her looking at her duplicate's leg.

"Huh?"

"If I stayed... for good, I mean," she continued, quietly, "as far 
as you would be concerned I'd be handicapping your body.  I don't know 
any martial arts, I don't work out like you do, I couldn't run the dojo.
So there goes everything you've worked for, for your whole life."

Ranma said nothing, but admitted to himself that she had hit the nail 
right on the head.  That was exactly what he had thought, even if he'd
never come out and admitted it, even to himself.  After a short time 
of feeling terrible, and watching Ranko feel terrible too, he had a
thought.

"What about the other me?  How'd *you* feel about *me*?"

"Headstrong, arrogant," the answer came quickly, abruptly, "easy to 
anger.  Unwilling to look at your own problems until it's too late."

"I guess that explains why he's banged up so bad," Ranma noted, 
holding back his instinct to take offence at Ranko's frank 
description of him. "But what about that injury?  That's gotta 
mean somethin'."

"I don't know what it means," she replied, honestly.  "I guess it 
has something to do with your curse and how much it's affected your 
life."

"Maybe," Ranma said, sounding unconvinced, "maybe not."

Something about that explanation didn't quite ring true for him.  
After Ranko's explanation of the injury to her duplicate, it 
seemed strange to him that his injury would be about something 
unrelated, like his curse.  Sure, the curse *must* have had 
something to do with Ranko's creation, but it still didn't seem 
quite right.  No, it must mean something like...

With an insight quite unexpected by him, he realized what it 
meant.  "I think you're wrong," he said, looking over at Ranko.
She blinked.

"How so?"

"Look at it," he continued, pointing, "it's yin and yang.  I ain't 
as smart as you but I know what that means.  Two opposites, one good 
and one evil.  An', heck, look where it is on me."

"The divided heart," Ranko said, softly.  Ranma had made a good point, 
and she understood.  It was far easier for her to look at Ranma's 
feelings from the outside than her own from within; the observation 
Ranma had made, however, had given her the right focus to figure it 
out.  "The divided soul."

Ranma looked away from his duplicate, back over at her.  His 
expression seemed a combination of smugness, at having come up 
with a better answer, and surprise, that she actually agreed with 
what he'd thought of.

"An injury to the heart," she stated, staring directly at it.  
"By coming into existence I divided your heart between Akane 
and Ryouga.  That's why he's dying...  it's my fault."

Ranma looked back at his duplicate, then at Ranko again.  Her 
eyes stayed fixed on the injury for a few moments, then shot 
to him, and began to spill tears down onto her cheeks.  "Oh... I'm 
sorry, Ranma!  I didn't mean to..."

Ranma blinked, not expecting Ranko's outburst.  Feeling quite
uncomfortable, he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, relax.  What've you got to be sorry for?  You an' Kasumi
are the nicest people I know!  You wouldn't hurt a fly." 

"You and Akane had some pretty big fights because of me."

"Shyeah, like we don't fight all the time anyway?"

"Ryouga nearly kissed you because of me!"

Ranma folded his arms.  That was a sore point with him; it had been
a humiliating experience to nearly be kissed by Ryouga.  At the
time he'd been intensely angry with Ranko, but he'd had time to
think it over since then and had realized the blame lay as much
with him as it did with her.  He'd let his guard down, let Ranko's
emotions - which he couldn't blame her for having - take charge,
and suffered the consequences.

"That was my fault," he said, eventually, "I shoulda been paying
more attention.  I'm not mad at you for that."

"But..." Ranko tried, wondering why he wasn't getting angry at
her.  Her argument was faltering before his unexpected bout of
compassion, and her self-guilt was running out of avenues to
use.  It wasn't ready to give up yet, however; it continued to
make her blame herself for all of his problems.  "But I made
you fall in love with Ryouga!"

"You did not!" Ranma retorted, quickly, "I never loved pig-boy.
I *like* him, sure.  Come to think of it, if it wasn't for you
we probably wouldn't be good friends like we are."

Ranko's eyes widened.  Why wasn't he angry at her?  Was he
crazy?  The Ranma she knew would be furious at her for the
things she had done!  He would be disgusted at her for making
him almost kiss Ryouga.  Wouldn't he?

The realization hit her like a ton of bricks.  Perhaps she
didn't know Ranma as well as she thought she did.  Her eyes
shot to the unconscious Ranma nearby.  He would be furious
at her for the things she had done.  But he wasn't real.  He
was a figment of her imagination.  She flicked her eyes back
to the real Ranma, and blinked as the pieces of the puzzle
began to slide into place.

Her self-guilt wasn't yet defeated, however; it lashed out in
its death throes and made her blurt out a confession.

"I kissed Akane."

"I know."

"I kissed Akane!" Ranko repeated, louder, her guilt giving
one last-ditch attempt to make him hear, to make him understand,
to make him hate her as it thought he should.

Ranma saw the desperation in her eyes and grabbed her shoulders,
shaking her gently.  "You didn't, Ranko!  It was me, making
you do that!  You apologized to her for the fair, remember?"

"Yes..." Ranko replied, her head drooping.

"She was so upset all of a sudden, and she grabbed you.  I was
there, I saw all of that!  She kissed you, not the other way
around."

Ranko nodded, weakly.  "She felt so bad... she needed you to
show her it was all right."

"Yeah!  And I made you kiss her back, to show her it was.  It
wasn't your fault!"

She looked up at him, moisture glistening in her eyes.  "You
don't hate me?"

He pulled her head against his chest and held it there.  "Of
course I don't."

"We were working together."

"Right!  Working together," he agreed, stroking the back of her
head gently.  "You didn't do anything wrong."

He held her head gently, and felt her sigh.  Her body was limp 
against him, and her eyes closed.  It was obvious she was 
exhausted.  No, beyond exhausted.  She'd been exhausted when they
first met; her recent emotional outburst had taken her far beyond
that.  He rested his head atop hers and realized he felt the
same way.

"I'm sorry, Ranma," she said quietly, apologising for her
outburst.

"Quit apologising already, Ranko."

She pulled her head away from his chest and looked up at him.  Her
eyes blinked away moisture, and she sniffed.

"Okay," she said, quietly.  She closed her eyes for a moment, 
then opened them again, and curled the corners of her mouth up 
in a tiny smile.  "Sorry."

"Hey, what'd I just say?" he asked, a frown coming to his face.  
Her smile widened a little, and his matched it as he realized she 
was joking.  "Glad to see you're feeling better."

"Thanks to you.  I shouldn't have broken down like that," she
said, leaning against his chest again.

"It's okay.  You're tired, it happened."

She nodded against his chest, and closed her eyes.  It had been
such a stressful few hours; she felt ready to collapse.  He
patted her shoulder gently.

"We should get some rest."

"Yeah.  We should."

She pulled gently away from him and lowered herself to the 
ground, then watched as he lay down next to her.  She rolled
over next to him, grateful for his body warmth, and for his 
company. He smiled at her, then closed his eyes.  She did too; 
before long they were asleep, together.

And together, they began to dream.

* * *

Two hours, fourteen minutes, and twenty-eight seconds.

Twenty-nine.

Thirty.

The rigid motion of the clock hands had held Ryouga's attention
for far longer than it should have.  It had been two hours,
fourteen minutes, and thirty-two - no, now thirty-three - seconds
since he had awoken.  Even as concerned as he was, it was only
a matter of time before the tapping hand lost its novelty and
boredom set in.  He was far too tired to even think about feeling
frustration over not being able to help Ranko.  He had been furious
at himself when he first saw the unmoving body on the clinic table,
but it had passed.  It would do Ranko no good for him to be angry
right now.  He pondered for a moment, then sighed.  

During the past two hours, he had stayed in the same spot near 
Ranma's feet, eyes fixed first on his tapping hand, then on 
his face, then on the clock.  For fifty-six minutes he'd been 
staring at that clock.  It was kind of depressing to think about.  
Akane had gone back to sleep long ago, and since woken up again
and gone outside for some fresh air.  

He knew that he couldn't stay where he was forever; it could be
hours, days, or even weeks until there was a change in Ranma's
condition.  Or, perhaps there would be no change at all.  He 
shuddered at the thought.

In spite of his common sense, he stayed where he was, staring
at the clock face as its hands made their circular journey.  He
didn't care how long it took.  He had a vow to uphold, after
all.

<If only there was something I could do.>

The moon had advanced far through the night sky, and the pale
beams of light that reflected from its surface down to the planet
below struggled to stay on the floor of the clinic as the spin
of the earth tugged them inexorably up the wall.  A glimmer
of moonlight, reflected from the glass cover of the clock, shone
annoyingly into Ryouga's eyes; the irritation proved enough to
make him shift his gaze elsewhere.  

He blinked a couple of times, his eyes dry from staring for
so long, and lowered his chin into his hands.  He looked at Ranma
only briefly; the view had changed little.  The dull ache in his
legs told him it was time to move to a slightly more comfortable
position, so he stood, stretching as he did.  He stepped away
from the table and over to the window, tilting his head back to
look up through the glass at the sky beyond.

The stars shone down at him, a bright silver glitter, the
instantly-recognizable patterns of the constellations providing
a welcome sense of familiarity amongst the increasing number of
bizarre situations he was finding himself in as of late.  At least 
some things didn't change.

Glancing over his shoulder at the unconscious, unmoving body 
behind him, he quickly corrected himself.  Sometimes, change 
was a good thing.

Folding his arms in front of him, he returned his gaze to the
starry stretch of sky above him.  From a distance it looked as
if nothing were changing, as if everything above was static, but
he knew that if he looked closely enough and peeled away the
deceptively tranquil view that was presented, a remarkable amount
of change was going on in the endless expanse of space.

He found himself smiling as he filled his mind with such thoughts,
glad to be thinking of something other than the problems Ranma
and Ranko were facing.  It felt good to stop worrying, even if it
was only for a short while.

A gentle murmur from behind him brought his thoughts back into
the room.  He tore his eyes from the sky and whipped his head
around in a split second, wondering at the source of the noise.
The sight of Ranma's head moving slowly back and forth on the 
table made his heart leap from his chest to his throat.

He rushed to the table and leaned over it, looking down at Ranma's
face as the pig-tailed boy groaned quietly, a frown coming to
the face, then leaving as quickly as it had arrived.  The tapping
sound that had been Ryouga's continual companion for the past
two hours stopped; Ryouga looked down at Ranma's hand, only to
see it clenching into a fist, then unclenching, then gripping
the edge of the table.

Another groan came from Ranma.  Ryouga placed his hands on the
silk-covered shoulders of his friend and shook gently, hoping
somehow that it would urge him back to consciousness.

"Ranma?  Can you hear me?"

"Urghh..." came the reply, followed by a sharp intake of breath,
and a grunt as the air was forced out.

"C'mon, Ranma," Ryouga encouraged, "you can do it.  Wake up."

Ranma's eyes flickered open for a moment, then shut again.  For
a short moment, his body was perfectly still.  Ryouga had barely
released his grip on Ranma's shoulders, however, when the eyes
shot open again, and with a desperate gasp for air, Ranma surfaced
into consciousness.

He panted heavily, his eyes flicking back and forth for a moment
while his heart pounded powerfully in his chest.  His pupils shrank
slightly as his eyes focussed; even the dim moonlight seemed bright
to him.  He turned his head slightly to one side to focus on a
relatively dark, fuzzy shape.  As his eyes adapted to his 
surroundings, the fuzzy blob resolved itself into Ryouga's face.

"Ryouga?" he croaked, weakly.

"Yes!" came the ecstatic reply, Ryouga's face lighting up.  "You're
awake!"

"Ryouga... Ryouga," Ranma repeated, softly at first, but then more
forcefully.  The arms that had been inactive for so long flew up
from the table and grabbed him, wrapping tightly around him.
"Ryouga!"

Ryouga was startled by the suddenness of the hug, and gingerly
returned it.  "Ranko...?"

The head that was now on his shoulder nodded.  He pushed Ranko
slightly back from him, again gripping his shoulders.

"What happened?  Are you okay?"

"I'm not sure... I..." Ranko began, in a hoarse voice that seemed
distant, as if he were still half unconscious, then stopped.  He 
lifted his hands and looked down at them, turning them back and 
forth slowly as he flexed the fingers.  "Water!  Please, Ryouga?"

Ryouga blinked, then nodded quickly as the request sank in.  He
turned away and returned a moment later with a glass of water,
and the pitcher from which he had poured it.  Ranko gratefully 
took the glass and downed the water in one, the usual grace with 
which he drank pushed aside by the enormous thirst he felt.  He 
paused for a moment, then snatched the pitcher and upended it over 
his head.

With a resounding splash, Ranko's feminine form was restored.  She
shook her head back and forth, her now red hair flicking up out
of her eyes.  Placing the pitcher down on the table below her, she
shivered as the cold liquid cooled her body.  A droplet of water
fell from the tip of her nose as she looked back at a startled-
looking Ryouga.

"I don't l-like being in that body," she explained, drawing her 
knees  in toward her chest.  Closing her arms around them, she 
began to gently rock back and forth on the table.  "That's Ranma."

"Ranko," Ryouga said, placing his warm hand just above her elbow,
the extreme chill of her arm surprising him, "what happened?"

She sat in silence for some time, gently rocking back and forth
with her eyes closed.  Her hands tightened and loosened their grip
on her shins as her face formed a frown.

Her thoughts were so muddled; she wasn't sure if what she was
experiencing was real or just another delusion.  She could feel
Ranma in her mind, just as confused and frightened as she was.
He could see what she saw, feel what she felt.  His thoughts
coursed through her mind as hers did through his, the overlap
threatening to drive her to madness.  

She clenched her hands into fists suddenly and brought them
up to her temples, holding her head as she leaned forward,
her face reddening as she concentrated, straining to hold
her thoughts together amongst a torrent of cognition.  She
grunted and breathed heavily, squeezing her eyes tightly
closed as she fought for some control.

Ryouga listened intently as she related her bizarre tale,
her erratic narrative punctuated by bursts of unintelligible
murmuring.  He was startled on more than one occasion when
suddenly Ranko's voice would change slightly-- become a little
deeper, the tone more strained, the words... different.  He knew
at those times that it was Ranma talking, and the change
explained the problem far more clearly to him than any amount
of Ranko's troubled explaining ever could.

She talked continuously for several minutes, refusing to stop
or even slow down, despite Ryouga's repeated attempts to snap
her out of her almost trance-like state.  Her mind was
overflowing with thoughts; there wasn't enough room for them
in her head, so they poured out through her words.  She spoke, 
and continued to speak, until her story was complete and
a temporary reprieve from the crushing weight of her
mind was won.

When she had finished, she looked up at him.  She didn't expect
him to understand-- she wasn't sure if she understood it
herself, and couldn't clearly remember the words she had said
to him.  He looked down at her, his face showing confusion,
but also a measure of comprehension.  He reached down and
touched her shoulder gently, unsure of what to say.

His hand was shaking as it held her.  Two emotions caused
it; the overwhelming fear he felt as he thought of his beloved
Ranko's situation, and the intense, fiery rage he felt 
swelling within himself as he realized he could do nothing
to help.  This was not an enemy he could protect her from.
It was a battle she would have to fight alone.  What
troubled him the most was that he did not know if she would
be fighting alongside Ranma or fighting against him for
the right to live.

"Ryouga."

It was a whisper, forced out from between uncooperating lips,
the tiny prize won in an ongoing battle in Ranko's mind.  It
brought him out of his thoughts and back to her face, to her
eyes that shimmered so beautifully in the pale moonlight, the
tears borne of her pain sparkling like pearls.

"I... I don't know what's going to happen," she whispered,
bringing her hand to her shoulder and placing her fingers over
his, "but it's going to happen soon."

"Ranko..." he struggled, finding tears coming to his own
eyes, his will to hold them back fading, "I... I don't know
how to help you."

"Just tell me that you love me," she replied quietly, closing
her eyes.  "Under the stars, just like before."

She opened her eyes again and looked past him, through the
window, at the sparkling pinpricks of light that patterned
the sky.  He turned his head to look too; the stars burned
with a bright white light, as they always had, as they always
would.  He squeezed her hand gently and turned his gaze
back to her.  Her eyes were open once more, looking up at
him.

He squeezed her hand gently, and wiped away his tears with
his other hand.

"Ranko... I love you.  I've never loved anybody like I love
you.  You mean the world to me.  You care about me when nobody
else does.  With you I'm not alone anymore."

"Thank you," she replied, and managed a small smile.  She
lifted her arms and pulled him down into them; he wrapped
his own tightly about her.

"I will survive," she said, firmly.

He said nothing, instead he just squeezed her tightly in
his arms.

"For you, I promise I'll survive.  I want you to promise me
something too."

"Anything," he said quietly, his head buried into her
shoulder.

"Promise me that you won't hate Ranma for what's happened.
None of this is his fault, and no matter what happens it
was *never* his fault."

"I promise," he replied.  "I promise."

She said nothing in reply, and for a short time they
enjoyed each other's embrace.  It was a quiet time
they shared together, a sweet moment for two people in
love.

It ended, however, when Ranko suddenly stiffened in
Ryouga's arms.  She grunted in pain; he pulled away
quickly and looked at her face.

"What's the matter?  What happened?" he asked urgently,
concern in his voice.

Her eyes were tightly closed, as was her mouth; she
struggled to regain control, but managed for a moment.
Her mouth opened a little, and she forced out a few
words.

"Get.  Dr.  Tofu.  H-hurry!"

The command registered in Ryouga's addled mind, and 
with that he turned and dashed away as fast as his feet
would carry him.  He almost collided with a wall, but 
managed to turn himself toward the door and run 
through it to the waiting room.  He felt a wave of 
concern for Ranko coursing through him, a sharp feeling 
of nausea stabbing him in the stomach as he frenetically
looked around the waiting room for an exit.

His eyes latched onto the main clinic door, and he 
rushed through it, out onto the street.  His head
whirled to the left, then to the right, and before he
could even think he was sprinting along the road.  He
had no idea how to find Dr. Tofu; he didn't know where
the doctor lived.  The thought that the doctor probably
lived in the clinic passed through his mind as he ran,
but it was too late to worry about something like that.
He knew Akane was somewhere nearby; that would have to 
do.  Heaven help Ranko if he couldn't find her.

"Akane!"

Fortune, like the stars, was smiling down on him that
night; in his time of need his senses guided him straight
to the youngest Tendo girl, who was leaning solemnly on 
a fence a short distance from the clinic.  Ryouga 
grabbed her and hurriedly explained what had happened; 
a moment later Akane was sprinting toward the clinic 
with him in tow.

* * *

Ryouga sat in silence, the dull ticking of a clock once
again his only companion.  The moon had sunk below the
horizon some time ago, but he did not notice; his gaze
was firmly fixed on the floor between his feet.  The
waiting room was cold, dark, and lonely. Just like him.

Akane had been hysterical when she first saw Ranko's
condition.  The redheaded girl had been twitching and
convulsing uncontrollably on the table, babbling 
incomprehensible words.  Akane had woken Dr. Tofu, who
indeed slept in another room in the clinic, and made 
a brief but tearful telephone call to her own home to 
report the situation to her family.

Ryouga, in the meantime, had retreated to the waiting
room to wallow in his uselessness.  While Dr. Tofu, Soun,
Genma, Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane rushed about in the
next room, he had sat alone in the quiet room and waited.
The muffled noises from the others worried him at first;
there was more than a little shouting, and the occasional
loud thump.  After a time the din had died down, however,
and relative silence had fallen upon the clinic once
more.

Part of him wanted him to jump to his feet and charge
into the examination room to save her; but no, he knew
there was nothing he could do.  So he sat in silence,
and waited.  

It had been-- he didn't know how long it had been.  Too
long.  The endless waiting was maddening.  His hands
clenched tightly on the wooden armrest of the couch he
was sitting on; he heard a snap and quickly released his
grip, cursing himself for not paying attention to how
tightly he was holding it.

Bringing his arms back to his lap, he rested his elbows
on his thighs and covered his eyes with his hands.  A
sigh rolled out from between his lips.

A thin crack of light appeared on the floor as the sliding
door was pulled back, allowing the fluorescent light from
the examination room to leak through.  He looked up from
his hands to see Akane step through the door and close it
after herself.  She looked over at him and stepped over
to the couch, sitting down on the other side.

"What's going on in there?" he asked, his mouth dry.

"It's not looking good," came the quiet reply, Akane's
voice shaky.

"She was having some sort of seizure," she continued,
clasping her hands together between her legs and staring
down at them, "Dr. Tofu had to knock her out to stop
her from hurting herself.  He says it's a problem that
has to heal itself.  He said there's nothing he can do."

A quiet, muffled noise reached Ryouga's ears; he looked
over, only to see Akane sobbing quietly into her hands.
Biting his lip, he shuffled over closer to her on the
couch and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Akane, I..."

"I'm scared," she sobbed, "he might die!  That jerk
finally admitted that he loves me and now he's going
to die!"

"Even if he only just admitted it, he's always loved
you."

"Why couldn't he have told me earlier?!" she shrieked,
tears streaming down her face, "All the time we spent
arguing... what a waste!  I loved him then, but he
was too pigheaded to admit that he... I... damn him!  
Damn him..."

Ryouga said nothing.  He brought one hand to his cheek
to wipe away the tears that were rolling down it, and
closed his eyes.

Akane sniffed, and quietly continued sobbing.  "He
can't die on me!  He just can't..."

* * *

Ranko groggily opened her eyes.  She immediately
squinted them as a thunderous headache roared across
her mind.  An intense cold ran through her and she
fought off the instinct to curl up into a shivering
ball, as she pulled herself slowly up to her hands
and knees.

She cast her gaze left, and right; all that greeted
her was endless blackness.  After the bizarre, dreamlike
experience she had gone through in Dr. Tofu's clinic,
the void seemed almost to have a sense of familiarity.

She climbed slowly to her feet, wobbling at first, but
quickly finding her balance.  She rubbed her head and
shook it back and forth, trying to banish the pain that
lanced through her mind.

A groan echoed over her shoulder; she turned to face
it, pulling her hair back from her face as she did.
Ranma knelt before her, having similar problems standing.
She stepped forward and lowered her hand to him.  He took
it gratefully and pulled himself up to his feet.

He stumbled forward slightly and she caught him, barely
managing to keep her own balance.

"Are you okay?" she asked, pushing him back onto his own
feet.  He nodded, reaching up to scratch his head.  She
turned away from him and took a step forward.

"We're dying, Ranma.  Both of us."

"I know," came the reply.  Quiet, but loud enough to send
echoes off into the endless distance.

Ranko lowered her head and nodded.  He'd been there too,
in the clinic.  Of course he knew.  Their minds had been
linked at the time; he'd made the realization at the exact
moment she had.  They were dying because there simply
was not enough room for two minds to live in one person.

"What do we do?"

"From what I see we ain't got much of a choice," Ranma
replied, solemly.  Ranko knew the words before he even
spoke them; she had thought the same herself.  "Either
one of us dies, an' the other one lives, or we both die."

"I don't want to die," she whispered, turning to face him.
Her eyes shone with tears as she looked at him.  "I
promised Ryouga I wouldn't.  I...I can't do that to him."

"I know," he replied, turning his head to look away from
her.  "I guess that means it's gonna be me."

"What?  No!" Ranko gasped, rushing over to him.  She
grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, her grip
as firm as her words.  "I WON'T let you die!  What about
Akane?  What about YOU?  I won't let you do it!"

Ranma shrugged himself free of her hands and turned
away.  He stepped away from her and lowered his head,
his arms limp at his sides.

"You can't have it both ways."

"I am not going to kill you, Ranma!" Ranko screamed, a
sudden anger overtaking her.  "I am not going to make
that choice, damn it!  YOU decide who lives and who dies!"

"I already decided!" he spat, whirling to face her.  "I'm
not going to kill you!  I'm a martial artist, not some...
some COWARD!"

"What about Akane?" Ranko shot back, "Are you going to
kill her too?  If you let yourself die that's what you'll
be doing!"

"I can't make the choice!  I can't decide, Ranko!  Nobody 
could do that!"

Ranko gasped, her eyes widening; she stepped back and
covered her mouth with both hands.  The intense feeling of
deja vu *scared* her.  Ranma had said what his injured
double had said.  *Exactly* what his injured double had
said.

"What am I *supposed* to do?!" he cried, his voice filled
with anguish, "I can't do it!"

The words echoed out into the infinite void and came back,
repeating over and over, mocking him with his own admission,
the words he hoped he would never say returning to him
a thousand times over, growing louder and louder with each
repetition.

I can't do it.

I can't do it!

I CAN'T DO IT!

"Damn it!" he yelled, a fiery anger burning inside him,
the sound of himself admitting defeat drilling itself 
into his mind-- driving him to madness, a scorching hatred 
for the endless black prison he was entrapped in exploding
inside him.  "If there's no room why the HELL does this 
place go on forever?!"

Ranko froze.  Ranma burst into an uncontrollable rage,
and started attacking invisible foes around him, swinging 
wildly with his fists at a thousand enemies he couldn't 
see as the echoes of his cry of defeat came back to haunt 
him.  

Ranko did not watch him.

Her attention was drawn to what he had cried out in his
rage; that the place they were in went on forever.  She
struggled to breathe as the sheer weight of the revelation
collapsed into her mind.  Of course!  It *wasn't* that
there was no room!  That wasn't the problem, at all!

As Ranma ran around her, striking out with a blind fury at
the admission of helplessness he had made, his mind aflame
with a white-hot anger at that which was killing him, she
found herself quiet, unable to move.

All this time; all this anguish; it was all for nothing.  Her
greatest problem - not being able to fit inside Ranma's mind -
did not exist.  She found the emotional weight of her imminent
death draining from her, leaving her alone, eyes closed, 
staring at the stark naked realization she had made-- she was 
wrong.

She was not dying because there was no room.

She was dying because she was Ranma.

Two halves of one whole.  The yin and the yang.  The woman and
the man.  Divided by a father's intensive training; distilled 
by a magical curse from Jusenkyo; seperated by a blow to the 
back of the head.  They were dying because they were one and 
the same.  Destined to be together, unable to survive apart.

Her eyes slowly peeled open, her head raised itself, and her 
hands clenched themselves into fists.  The choice had been made.  
Neither of them would die this day.

An almost euphoric calm came over her.  For the first time in
her life she felt no danger; no reason to be afraid for her life.
The anger which she had felt only a few moments before was
gone.  The fear, the frustration, the love - all gone.  She felt
now only one thing.  One driving force, one solitary purpose;
driven by thought, not by emotion.

The soul of ice.

She watched Ranma run in front of her, swinging his fists
in rage as he scorched the blackness around her in a burning
circle, and knew what she had to do.  She understood; Ranma did
not.  She would show him what she had learned.

She listened to him run behind her, and prepared; as he ran
into her field of view again, she sprinted forward, charging
directly forward to the place she knew he would be in only
a few short moments.  Time seemed to slow down as she ran
at him, her mouth opening to cry out one word.

"Ranmaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

He snarled as he heard her, his eyes whirling to her.  She
looked as a blue streak to him, charging directly toward him.
His anger and hatred did not distil his matrial arts training;
she was attacking - she was a threat - she would be stopped.
He raised his fist and plunged it through the air toward her,
the burning speed with which the blow was delivered igniting
his hand.

Ranko saw his fist flying toward her face, and instinct kicked
in; she raised both arms into a blocking position and pushed
upwards with all her strength, to deflect the blow.  He could
not hit her; she had to stop him, tell him what she had
discovered.

In the millisecond that followed, Ranko learned many things.

She learned a valuable lesson about what happens when a cold
burst of air is forced up into a hot spiral of air.  She 
learned what Cologne would one day describe to Ranma as the 
Hiryuu Shoten Ha.  She learned that physical strength was not 
the only deciding factor in a battle.

She learned that - perhaps - like Ranma, she was a martial 
artist after all.

Two pairs of eyes closed tightly as a whirling spiral of wind
exploded into existence around them.  Her hair whipped up
around her face as the enormous strength of the whirlwind
took both of them into its grasp; her head banged into Ranma's
chest as she was lifted off the ground, and his arms flailed
wildly as the fire that burned on his fist and in his soul 
was extinguished by the rushing gale that blew him off his 
feet.

They were pressed together as they spun rapidly inside the
whirlwind.  A cold fear filled Ranko's heart as she tried
in vain to imagine how she had created this wind.  Ranma's
heart held he same fear as his eyes looked around wildly,
his mind trying to figure out exactly what had happened.  
He found himself staring down at Ranko, as she stared up at
him.

As their eyes met their hearts held the same fear.  It faded
as they stared at each other, to be replaced by a mutual
understanding; a trust.  In the midst of the swirling 
maelstrom, Ranma smiled, and Ranko matched it.  Perhaps, for 
a moment, they were in love.

A moment was long enough.

There was a balance; the yin and the yang, the right and
the wrong, the knowledge and the ignorance, the bravery
and the fear, the calm and the anger.  For the merest of
instants, all was equal.

With a blinding flash of purest white light, Ranko and Ranma 
disappeared.

* * *

A dull rumble sent a flock of forest birds flapping out from
the treeline to take flight across the red, sunscorched sky.
Their cries alerted other birds quickly soon joined them, and 
soon a mass exodus took place, with birds scattering to far 
corners of the forest to escape the source of the loud noise.

The rumble moved through the forest, zigging and zagging
left and right seemingly at random, advancing inexorably through
the trees.  Where it passed, trees splintered and fell, each
adding to the din.

This continued for some time; the rumbling noise moving, trees
falling, birds scattering away as their safe places were
threatened.  After a time, the advance of the noise seemed
to slow, and then stop; as it did, silence fell upon the
forest.

Had there been any observers to this event, they would have
been surprised to discover that, at the end of the trail of
fallen trees stood a man.  A boy.  His eyes locked on the
ground, his chest heaving from the effort of his exertions,
a thin sheen of sweat upon his skin.

He could feel his heart beat in a dull throb around his head,
beneath his bandana.  His eyes hardened as they stared at his
shadow, stretched far in front of him by the reddish light of
the setting sun.  Hands tightening into fists, he spun and
punched powerfully at the nearest tree; the wood disintegrated
beneath his fist and with a loud creak, the lofty tree tipped
away from him and fell to the earth below, accompanied by a
mighty crash.

He had, that day, demolished no less than four hundred and
sixty-three trees.  Not that he had kept count; nor had he
cared in the slightest about the destruction he had caused.
It did not matter to him.  What did matter to him was the
intense fire that burned within him, a sum of all the rage
and hate he felt for the world and everything upon it.  He
had marched on a rampage for a week since hearing the news.

The very moment that Ranma awoke Akane had taken her into
her arms and held her, tears cascading from both of their
faces.  Akane had sobbed her thanks that Ranma had awoken;
Ranma sobbed hers that the ordeal was over.  It was over.

The rage had taken him then.  He stormed out of the clinic;
out of Nerima, out of Tokyo.  Away, far away, destroying
as he went.  Buildings, trees, moutains, it did not matter.
All that mattered was that he inflict as much pain on the
world as it had on him.

As he stood alone in the forest he felt the anger again
welling up inside him.  A thousand hatreds burned in his 
heart; he cursed the fates for what they had done to him,
he cursed the earth for bearing witness to the torment
he suffered, he cursed the sky for mocking his grief by
looking exactly as it had on the days he had spent with
Ranko, he cursed Akane and Ranma for taking her from him.

Most violently of all, he cursed Ranko for betraying
her promise to him.  It was that betrayal that burned so
hotly in his heart, like a blade of fire stabbing him
in the very soul.

Throwing his head back, he cast his fists into the air
and let loose an anguished cry of despair, the full fury
of the anger which so thoroughly enveloped him exploding
out between his lips in one moment.

"Damn this world!  DAMN THIS WORLD!"

And when the sound finally faded, Ryouga still stood,
alone, within the circle of fallen trees.  His anger and 
desire for destruction temporarily sated, he dropped to 
his knees and fell forward, sobbing bitter tears of grief 
into the soft earth below him, his face buried in the dirt 
of the clearing.

Not even the white-hot rage of the hell he had seen could 
keep him from his grief forever.

* * *

Ranma knelt quietly in his room, his backpack open before
him.  He worked quickly, folding a sleeping bag in half
lengthwise before rolling it tightly.  He briefly considered
packing a blanket as well, but decided against it.  The
material of the sleeping bag was thick.  He would be warm
enough to sleep.

Next, he neatly folded two pairs of boxer shorts, two pairs of 
pants and two long-sleeved shirts, a wool sweater, and a scarf.  
He wasn't sure how long he would be gone, or exactly where he 
would be going, but he knew it sometimes got extremely cold out 
in the wilderness. Next came a canteen, and a thermal flask.  
Kasumi had cheerily  obliged him when he asked if she had a flask 
he could use; she seemed pleased at the prospect of the trip he 
was planning.

He sighed quietly as he unscrewed the cap and screwed it shut
again, twisting it tightly to ensure it was properly sealed.
If only the other members of the household had been as positive
about the whole trip idea as Kasumi, he would have felt better.

Soun had, of course, immediately burst into tears at the
thought of his future son-in-law running off to chase some boy
around instead of spending time with his youngest daughter.
Nabiki had responded with relative indifference to the news.
Genma reacted with a stoic silence, although the faint signs
of a smile had appeared on his face.  The old man might have
been completely irresponsible for a lot of the time in the past,
but he *did* understand what it meant to fulfil a promise and
keep your honour.  He had backed away from Ranma while Ranko
was around - Ranma suspected he was ashamed of what had
happened to his son - but in the past couple of days their
relationship had begun to resurface.

That left Akane.  She had taken it surprisingly well; there
was no anger, no shouting of words.  Instead there was a
quiet admission of surprise, and concern.  He knew she didn't
want him to go.  He knew she was worried about him, and he
hated to make her feel that way, but he had no choice in the
matter.  This trip was something he simply had to do.

"All packed?"

The words came over his shoulder as he placed the flask into
his backpack.  He turned his head and looked over his shoulder
at the door.

"Akane..." he said, watching her pull the door open and lean
agains the frame.  He turned back to face the pack and pulled
it closed, then reached down for the umbrella that lay beside
it and tucked the heavy object under the straps atop the pack.  
"I, uh... yeah.  All packed."

"So this is it?  You're leaving right now?"

He stood, and turned to face her.  He nodded.  "Yeah."

Stepping into the room, Akane pulled the door closed behind
her.  "Are you sure you won't reconsider, Ranma?" she asked,
clasping her hands together in front of her, "I mean, it's
only been a couple of days.  He might come back.  And you
don't know if you're fully recovered yet."

"We already talked 'bout this," he replied, turning to
pick up his backpack.  "I can't wait."

"Please?"

He sighed, and slung his backpack up over his shoulder, and
looked back at her.  He stopped, however, when he saw tears
in her eyes. Placing the backpack on the ground, he stepped
over to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Hey, c'mon, there's no need to cry..."

"I don't want you to leave me," she said, softly, looking
down at the ground between them.

"It's only for a little while, Akane.  I'll be back."

"What if you don't come back?  I nearly lost you the other
night, I don't want--"

"Hey, hey, hey," he interrupted, "we both know I'll be fine.
I'll be back before you know it.  I promise."

"But..."

"But nothing, Akane.  I keep my promises.  That's exactly
why I gotta do this.  I made a promise to Ryouga, and he
thinks I broke it.  I gotta talk to him, tell him I didn't."

"What was the promise?"

"That ain't important.  He needs my help.  He stood by Ranko
the whole time an' helped her when she needed it.  Now it's
my turn to help him."

"But why *now*?  You don't even know if you're okay yet!"

"Ryouga's out there with a broken heart an' I gotta go talk
to him before he does something really stupid."

Akane sighed, and closed her eyes.

"And it's Ryouga.  If he does somethin' really stupid he
could wind up hurting a lot of other folks.  He's got a
habit of blowing stuff up when he's mad."

"And who do you think he's going to be mad *at*?  He
might try to hurt you!"

"No, he won't."

"How do you know?"

"Listen," he replied, and reached up to stroke Akane's
hair gently, "I know him better than you think.  Trust
me, okay?  I'll be back before you even know I'm gone."

"Why don't you let me come with you?"

"I can't.  This is something I gotta do alone."

"I..."

"I know you're afraid I won't come back.  You're worried
I'm just gonna vanish and leave you on your own.  It's not
gonna happen, okay?  There's something here that'll always
make me come back."

"What?"

"You," came the reply, with a smile.  He gently squeezed
her shoulders, "I've never actually *said* it before, 
but... well..."

"But... what?" Akane asked, her eyes glimmering with both the
tears she had shed and the sudden hope she felt.

"I, uh... love... you," he managed, eventually.  His face
flushed a bright red with the last word, and his eyes flicked 
down to the floor, before slowly creeping back up to Akane's 
face to see her reaction.

Akane took a moment to register the words.  He'd actually
*said* it.  Even on the night when they had shared their
first kiss, he hadn't actually told her he loved her.  But
now, he had.  There was no romantic buildup, no angels
flying on scented wings across a starlit sky, no soft
shared moment spent together basking in the golden glow
of their mutual love.  Just three words, spoken simply
by the person before her, the person who loved her.

The person who was watching her daydream, with a mixture
of concern and amusement.  

She realized she was staring, and blushed.  She'd always 
imagined the first time she shared her feelings of love 
for somebody would be a magical moment, infused with the 
wonderous feelings of happiness and contentment, a moment
that would be illuminated by a perfect white light and
accompanied by the voices of an angel choir singing the
virtues of their love; but no, it was an ordinary moment,
a moment like any other.  A moment with Ranma.

She fell against him and wrapped her arms tightly around
him, gratefully.

"I love you too, Ranma."

He slid his arms around her shoulders gently and smiled.
The smile grew from one of simple fondness to one of
mischief.

"That and Kasumi's cooking.  I sure love Kasumi's cooking.
The way she gets the rice juuust right, it's--"

"Ranma!" she scowled, her face forming a frown.  They'd
finally admitted they loved each other and here he was,
acting like an idiot, spoiling it as usual.  But, hey,
that's who he was.  That's who she loved.  The frown 
disappeared, and Akane smiled, and began to laugh.

* * *

Ryouga watched the droplets of rain falling in front of
him, each little ball of misery splashing against the
cold, stark rock of the mountain that sheltered him.

It had been raining for hours, and the cold wind that
rippled over the mountain range chilled him to the bone,
but he was far too miserable to care.  So wrapped up in
his depression was he that he couldn't be bothered to
heft his umbrella and move to somewhere warmer than a
clump of boulders beneath a craggy outcrop of rock on
a bleak mountainside.

And so it was that he stayed where he was, sitting against
a smooth boulder with his knees pulled up against his
chest, his shoulders hunched forward, his arms resting on
his knees and dangling limply before him.  The icy mountain
wind swept past him time and time again, ruffling his hair
in and out of his eyes, the eyes that stared coldly out at
the raindrops and the black sky that spawned them.

His all-consuming rage - the anger that had fuelled him for
a week - had deserted him, leaving him alone, weary, his
heavy heart hanging over him like the black storm clouds.
The bitter feelings of anger that once saturated his soul
had drained away, taking his physical strength with
them; he was left with nothing.  A dull throb in his heart
and an overwhelming feeling of abandonment were his only
companions.  

A sigh ushered softly forward from his lips, the breath
fogging quickly amidst the cold mountain air, and drifting
away to be lost amongst the rain.  Summoning up what little
strength he had, he managed to push back the blanket of
apathy that weighed so heavily on him and reach into his
backpack.

His hand withdrew a moment later with a small leather wallet,
a wallet he had not looked at for some time.  Bringing
it closer to his face, he pulled it open and stared inside.
A solitary tear rolled down his cheek; he wiped it away.
Pulling his eyes from the pictures inside the wallet, the
only source of warmth on the dark mountain, he stared out
once again over the rain-filled landscape before him.

With another sigh, he returned the wallet to his backpack.

* * *

Ranma walked on, listening to the squelching sound his shoes
made as they sank into the mud with each of his steps.  The
rain had subsided a day ago, but the soil in the forest was
still wet.  It had taken him a long time to walk this far;
part of him had considered turning around and heading home
days ago, but no.  A promise was a promise.

When he stumbled across the forest he knew he'd found the
right place.  Not many forests have a path of shattered
trees carved into them.  Although a little daunting a trail,
it was a trail nonetheless, and the first real clue he'd found.

He'd set off into the forest, following the path of fallen
trees.  His suspiscions were confirmed by the oddly twisted
path the trail took; it even curved back across itself on
several occasions.  Only Ryouga would leave a trail like
that.

It had been a lengthy walk, and he was well and truly sick
of walking in the mud.  His frustration was only compounded
when he found a small circular clearing, a rather abrupt ending
to the trail.  Stepping into the mud, he looked around at the
bent and broken tree trunks around him, then up at the mountain
range in the distance.

"Dammit, Ryouga, where *are* you?"

Tilting his head back to look up at the mountain range, the
scarf he was wearing came loose.  He quickly grabbed it, before
it had a chance to fall off his neck.  Squinting to make out the 
details of the mountain, he let out a sigh, which immediately 
fogged in the cool air.

<He's gotta be up on that mountain,> he thought to himself,
wondering whether to start climbing or settle down for the
night and continue tomorrow.  Either that, or turning around
and walking home, which part of him wanted to do.  He missed
Akane.

He missed Ryouga, too.  A lot.  He couldn't leave him out to
suffer alone on some desolate rock.  Swinging his scarf back around 
his neck, he trudged through the mud toward the rocky base of 
the mountain.

* * *

Ryouga picked up a small pebble and turned it over and over again
between his thumb and forefinger.  The storm had long ended; in
fact, this day had been quite sunny, although the sun was now barely
peeking above the red horizon.

Still, even if the weather was good, Ryouga was in no mood to move
from his solitary perch.  The storm may have lifted, but his spirits
had not.  The rumblings of hunger had joined the pack of spectres
that haunted him, but he did not care enough to indulge it by
searching for food.  

As he ran his fingertips over the smooth surface of the tiny
pebble, he secretly envied it.  It had probably been alone on the
mountain for years, untouched, undisturbed.  It was solid, impervious;
it weathered the frequent storms that attacked the mountain, it
was not affected by summer, winter, day or night.  Nothing could touch 
it, or change it, or break it.

<Almost nothing,> he thought, as he broke the pebble in two with his
fingers. With a snort, he flicked his fingers out, sending the two
fragments flying outward momentarily before gravity took over and
sent them tumbling down the mountainside.

He listened, closing his eyes as the sound of the pebble pieces
falling echoed back up to him, growing quieter, and quieter, and 
quieter still, and louder, and louder and... louder?

He opened his eyes, curious as to why the tapping noise was growing
louder.  It sounded odd, for rock hitting rock; almost as if...

A clump of black hair appeared, suddenly poking up on the other side
of a nearby boulder.  Ryouga turned his head toward it, blinking 
in surprise.  Four fingers poked up to the left of it and gripped
the rock; then four more to the right.  The fingers turned white
as weight was applied to them, and then, a moment later, the face
below the hair popped up.

"You!"

Ryouga's cry startled Ranma, who had been paying more attention to
the cracks below him that supported his feet than anything above him.
His eyes flicked up, widening as they caught sight of the lost boy
sitting up against a boulder.

"Ryouga!" he exclaimed, "I found you!"

"What the hell are *you* doing here?!" 

"I came," Ranma replied, hoisting himself up until his waist was
above the rock, then pulling himself fully up onto it, "to find
you."

"You found me.  You can go now."

"Geez!" Ranma exclaimed, standing and putting his hands on his 
hips, "I climb all the way up this mountain and that's the welcome I 
get?"

"Just leave me alone, damn you!"

"Ryouga, you can't go on livin' alone like this."

"I *wouldn't* be living alone if it wasn't for you!  Go to hell!"

"From the looks of you, I'm already there," came the reply.  "Why
the heck did you run off like that?  And to here?"

"Why do you *think*?" Ryouga spat, his tongue dripping with
venom.

"But you didn't even let me talk to you!  I didn't even get a
chance to explain."

"Explain what?  'Oh, hi, Ryouga, I'm back.  Problem solved!  Oh
yeah, Ranko's gone, sorry about that.'  Sorry if my leaving
meant you couldn't brag, but I didn't expect even *you* to follow
me all the way here to rub it in my face."

"That's not why I'm here!" Ranma replied, with a frown.  "I'm
here to explain--"

"Explain how Ranko died?  Give me every detail?"

"No!  Would you just listen?"

"I bet you enjoyed it.  Damn you, Ranma!" Ryouga yelled, tears
coming to his eyes, "You just had to take her from me!  You
couldn't stand to see me happy!"

"Dammit, just LISTEN to me for a minute!"

"She meant everything to me and you took her away!" Ryouga cried,
jumping to his feet, "You've ruined my life!"

"Would you just let me expla--"

"Get the hell off this mountain!  You've taken everything I have,
leave me alone!"

"Ryouga!" Ranma yelled, clutching his hands into fists in frustration,
"Just let me--"

"GO!  LEAVE!"

"Dammit," Ranma fumed.  He had tried to get Ryouga to shut up and
listen, so he could take his time and say what he wanted to say in
the way he wanted to say it, but he couldn't get a word in edgeways.
And so it was that he was forced to blurt out what he had been
worrying him for the past week, without any preparation.  "Ryouga!
I didn't take Ranko away.  She isn't gone!"

"Damn you!  Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"She isn't gone," Ranma repeated again, quietly.  He looked away
from the enraged boy before him, and let out a sigh.  He didn't
want to admit it, but it was true.  He couldn't pretend anything
else; it wasn't fair, to Ryouga, to Akane, to himself, or to
Ranko.  "She's me."

"You?!" 

"That's what I've been tryin' to tell you.  I'm Ranko.  Happy now?
I admitted it.  I'm a girl!  Now would you just shut up for a minute 
and let me talk to you?"

Ryouga's shoulders slumped; he turned and faced the boulder behind
him.  "Talk.  Then go."

There was a dull thud behind him, then a rustling noise, then a
splash as cold water hit the rocky surface they were standing upon.
He turned, and saw Ranma before him, holding a now empty canteen
upside down over her head.

"It's easier to explain... like this," she said, shivering from the
chill of the water.  She shook her head back and forth, sending dozens
of droplets flying from her hair, then sat crosslegged and placed the
canteen down next to her backpack.

"Sit down," she said, gesturing to a space in front of her.

"No," Ryouga replied, shaking his head.  "Say what you're going to 
say and then go."

"Please?  Just sit down.  I'm gonna tell you something, and then 
if you want me to go away I'll leave and never bother you again.  
Just sit down... please."

* * *

Ranma talked for almost an hour, telling Ryouga exactly what 
had happened; the dreams, joining with Ranko.  Ryouga's anger stayed,
but it faded somewhat as Ranma related his story.  It was a bizarre
story, to be sure, but something about the way she told it seemed to
ring true to him.

"So Ranko *is* gone," he said, quietly, his eyes fixed on his own
feet.

"No," Ranma replied, shaking her head, "she's not gone.  I'm Ranma,
and I'm Ranko.  It's kinda hard to describe, but... I'm both of us."

"So... what?  You remember--"

"Getting hit in the head by your umbrella, I remember that very
well."

Ryouga said nothing.

"Talking to you on the way to school, I remember that too."

"I'll never forget it," Ryouga whispered, his eyes moistening as
he closed them.

"Sittin' with you up on the roof and talking.  Walking around
the lake with you, going to the fair with you, fighting you in
the dojo, watchin' you stuff sushi into your face even quicker'n
me."

Ryouga bit his lip, opening his eyes again as tears streamed down
his cheeks.

Ranma smiled.  "Pulling your porky behind in out of the rain that
one night," she said, and giggled.  His eyes shot up from his lap
to her face, a sharp frown hovering menacingly over them.  How dare
she laugh at a time like this?

She met his stare with her own, the smile gone from her face.  "You 
know what I remember the best, Ryouga?"

He said nothing; instead he continued to stare at her, his wet eyes
hard still.

"I remember falling in love with you.  I remember that perfectly."

Ryouga's frown disappeared, and his eyes again sank to his lap;
a sob escaped him as he buried his chin in his chest.  Ranma watched
him for a moment, then looked down at her hands as she clasped them
together in front of her.  She twiddled her thumbs for a few
moments, blushing as she tried to make a very important decision.

Ryouga sobbed again, and again; Ranma returned her eyes to him, the
light of the rising moon illuminating only half of his face, the
other still hidden in shadow.  With a sigh, she looked down again,
and spoke, very quietly.

"I still love you."

"Wh... what?" he stammered, quickly looking up.  "What did you say?"

"I said, I still love you," Ranma repeated, looking up at him, her
eyes locking on his, that were as wide as the full moon beside them.
"Ranko fell in love with you, and now I love you.  I wasn't sure 
if I wanted to come and find you.  I mean... I don't want to love 
you!  But I do, and I can't lie to myself and pretend I don't."

"But you're not Ranko!" Ryouga exclaimed in surprise.

"What did I just spend an hour explaining?"

"I mean, even if she did join with you, you're not her!"

"That's just the thing," Ranma replied, quietly.  "I am.  It took
me ages to figure it out.  Well... Ranko figured it out."

"Figured what out?" Ryouga asked, bewildered.

"That Ranko is me, and always has been."

Ryouga said nothing for five full minutes; he just stared at her
in wide-eyed shock.  Eventually, the power of speech returned to
him, and he managed to utter one word.

"What...?"

"Ranko was the bits of my personality that I pushed away and
didn't let anyone see.  Y'know?  Pops took me on that training
trip an' he was always saying I had to be a man among men.  He
made sure that any part a' me that wasn't manly was pushed away.
So I had this whole side of my personality hidden away.  I was
unbalanced.

"Then when I hit my head on that rock," she continued, "it all
just split away and formed a personality of its own.  I guess
Jusenkyo had somethin' to do with it, but I dunno.  Anyway, she
split off and grew on her own, an' then I came back and grew
away on my own too, an' we ended up as two people who seemed
totally different."

Ryouga suddenly had immense difficulty breathing.  He closed
his eyes and panted, trying to clear his head.  Ranko was Ranma
all along?  But... but...

His eyes opened as he felt a familiar warmth on his hand; he
was greeted by the sight of Ranma's hand closing on his.  He
swallowed, and cried out for his instincts to tell him what to
do.  His mind stayed silent, however, and after a moment he
found himself reciprocating, squeezing Ranma's hand with his.

"I came to tell you that I didn't break my promise," Ranma
said, softly.  "I survived."

"Thank you," Ryouga replied, little more than a whisper.  Tears
dripped down from his cheeks, and gently struck Ranma's hand,
and his own.  "Thank you."

* * *

Ranma leaned back, the middle of her back pressing against
Ryouga's side.  He was again sitting against the boulder,
and she sat sideways next to him, leaning on him, his arm
around her waist and her head tilted backwards, resting on 
his shoulder, her face pointed at the sky.

"You have to understand," she said quietly, "I can't love
you like I love Akane."

"I know," Ryouga replied.  "I know."

"I'm going to marry her one day.  I love her."

"So did I, once."

"But that doesn't mean I don't love you.  I will always
love you, and I'll always be there for you.  Always."

"Thank you... Ranma."

"You're not alone anymore."

Ryouga tilted his head back a little, and allowed a smile
to cross his lips.  His greatest fear had always been that
he would be forever alone.  Only someone who knew him as
well as Ranko did could know that, and understand.

"Can I ask you something, Ranma?"

"Of course."

"I'd like... um..."

"Like what?"

"It's kinda hard to ask..."

She turned, until she was facing the same direction as he,
and turned her head to look at him, her eyebrows arched in
curiosity.  He looked at her, then blushed and looked
away.

"Just ask."

"I... uh..." he tried, looking up at her again.  His
cheeks reddened further, and for a moment his eyes looked
away; but they quickly snapped back to her face, a new
look of determination behind them as he stared into her
milky white eyes.  "Oh, forget asking.  You only live once."

With that, and with no other warning, he launched his
face at hers.  She barely had time to blink before his lips
were pressed against hers in a kiss, his eyes closed as his
arm held her against him.  She flailed for a moment, wide-eyed,
but slowly, gradually, stopped resisting.  Her eyes closed,
and her arms wrapped themselves around him as she returned
his kiss.

They kissed for a long time, and for a brief moment, Ryouga
and his beloved Ranko were together again, a young couple in
love under the bright eyes of a billion stars.

The kiss ended; Ryouga pulled back a fraction of an inch,
and Ranma briefly tried to touch her lips to his once more.
She stopped, however, and for a time they sat together, panting,
their warm breath washing over each other's face, their noses
and foreheads touching, their eyes closed.

"Ryouga... you shouldn't..." Ranma breathed.

"I know... I just had to, one more time.  I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she replied, squeezing him gently in her arms as
her eyes opened.  "I just don't know if it was the right thing
to do."

"Don't worry," he said, quietly.  "I won't do it again.  I won't
make you choose between me and Akane.  Just... knowing that you
care is enough."

A smile came to Ranma's lips.  "Thank you.  I can see why Ranko
fell in love with you.  It scared the hell out of me at first,
but... I'm glad that I love you, Ryouga."

"I love you too..." Ryouga began, and fell into a moment of
silence.  Ranma pulled back, and looked at his face.  He met
her with a smile.  "Ranma."

"Will you come back to Nerima?  You don't have to stick around
all the time if you don't want to, but I want you to visit from
time to time."

"I will.  To tell the truth, I was getting fed up of this rock
anyway."

She laughed, then turned to her side and again rested her head
on his shoulder.  A moment of companionable silence was shared
between them, neither speaking; neither needing to.

Ranma looked up at the night sky and watched the stars twinkle,
each not alone in space, but part of a magnificent galactic 
orchestra; the light of each, tiny as it was, adding to the 
spectacular symphony that illuminated even the darkest of
nights.

"Tell me a story, Ryouga."

"A story?"

Ranma smiled, and took his hand in hers again.  "Yeah.  A story 
about the stars."

And so the pair stayed together that night on the mountain, keeping 
each other's company as Ryouga spoke and Ranma raptly listened, both 
bathing in the light of the moon as it made its journey across the 
sky.  For that night, just one more night, they belonged to each 
other, and the night belonged to them.
---
FIN