"GIRL TALK"
Written by MmeFleiss 
The Ranma 1/2 characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi
< > are thoughts
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[The Nekohanten]

     Mousse smiled as he sat down, happy that the last customer from the
lunch crowd had left. Cologne and Shampoo were out of town visiting
relatives and wouldn't be back for another week so he was stuck doing all
the cooking and serving.

     Suddenly, a red and black blur appeared before his eyes.When he put on
his glasses, he saw what appeared to be a very cute red-haired girl standing
in front of him.

     "What do you want, Saotome?" he asked, a bit annoyed at seeing his
rival but too tired to show his displeasure.

     "Hey Mousse. I just stopped by for some ramen. Akane's cooking dinner
tonight so I figured I might as well enjoy my life while I still have it."

     Mousse nodded sympathetically. He hated Ranma with a passion but even
he didn't deserve that kind of torture.

     "All right. I'll make you some," he said as went into the kitchen and
started to cook a fresh batch of ramen.

     He had taken off his glasses again so he didn't notice that he had
accidentally taken a bottle from Cologne's rack of magical herbs. Mistaking
it for salt, he put a large amount of it in the pot. After a couple of
minutes, he went back to the restaurant, steaming bowl in hand.

    Ranma-chan quickly inhaled the food and was about to stand up when she
noticed that everything looked bigger. "What the...?" she asked, a confused
look on her face.

     Hearing Ranma's puzzled voice, Mousse put on his glasses and found a
six year old girl in the spot where he thought he heard Ranma-chan's voice.

     "Where did Ranma go?" he thought out loud.

     "Over here, moron." the six year old yelled. "Jeez,you're blinder than 
I thought!"

     Mousse took a closer look at the young girl and noticed that what he
originally thought was a red dress was really an oversized red shirt.

     "Ranma?"

     "Of course! Who do I look like you jer..." Her voice trailed off when
she saw her reflection for the first time. Staring right back at her was a
very cute girl. That in itself wasn't shocking,it was the fact that she was
six years old.

     "Oops! I must have accidentally put one of Cologne's magic herbs on
your soup."

     "What?!" Ranma-chan exclaimed angrily. "Turn me back_now_!"

     "Well,I don't exactly know how I could..."

     "Then find out!" she yelled.

     "Okay. It's going to take a while though. Come back in an hour. I
should find out what the antidote is by then."

    "Fine, I'll be back later," she grumbled as she headed towards the
door.

     "Wait a minute, you can't go out like that!" Mousse exclaimed when she
was about to open the door.

     Ranma-chan looked down and noticed she was only wearing an oversized
shirt, the pants she was wearing when she came in were on the floor.
 
     "Here," Mousse said as he grabbed a set of girls clothing from his 
robe and handed it to Ranma-chan. "It was supposed to be for my niece but 
you obviously need it more than she does."

     "Thanks," Ranma-chan answered as she grabbed the outfit and headed
for the back room to change.

     She dejectedly walked out of the Nekohanten a couple of minutes later.
Great, just what I need, Ranma-chan thought angrily. As if turning into
a girl wasn't bad enough, now I'm stuck as a six year old.

                                    ***

     Akane was slowly walking down the street on her way to the market.S he
was busy trying to remember the ingredients she needed for her new recipe
until she noticed the sad little girl walking away from the Nekohanten.

     She quietly approched the little girl and asked, "Are you lost?"

     Ranma-chan turned around and was startled to see Akane trying to give
her a reassuring smile. The sight of her smiling face caused Ranma-chan
to get flustered.

     As she twiddled her thumbs, she nervously stammered, "Uh...well...I...
um..."

     Akane looked at the nervous girl and then at the handful of change on
her right hand. I guess my recipe can wait, she thought as she looked
back up.

     "Tell you what, how about I treat you to some ice cream before I help
you find your parents?"

      At the mention of food, Ranma-chan quickly answered, "Sure."

     "Great! By the way, I'm Akane."

     Ranma-chan looked around in panick since she had no intention of
telling the older girl who she really was, knowing that she would have to
explain what she was doing at the Nekohanten. She then noticed a big
Sailor V poster on an arcade they passed by.

     "My name's Venus."

                               *    *    *

[The Ice Cream Store]

     The two girls quickly got a seat and made their orders. They
immediately got it and Ranma-chan quickly dug in. Akane watched in
amazement as the younger girl devoured her sundae in a matter of seconds.

     "That's quite an appetite, Venus.Your eating style reminds me of
someone."

     "Who?" Ranma-chan asked as she scraped the remaining ice cream on
her glass.
 
     "My fiancee, Ranma."

     Hearing her name, Ranma-chan decided this was the perfect opportunity
to distract Akane from cooking her dinner tonight. "Didn't you almost get
married a couple of days ago?"

     "Is there anyone in this town who doesn't know about that?" Akane
asked, sounding a bit angry.

     This is too easy, Ranma-chan thought as she went in for the kill. "You 
must really like him to have almost married him," she said, feigning
innocence.

     She knew that nothing would distract Akane more than a mention of
her feelings for him. She idly waited for the explosion of denial she knew
was coming and was shocked when it didn't come.

     "Yeah, I do." Akane replied, so softly that Ranma-chan almost didn't
hear. Almost.

     Ranma-chan could only stare at her in shock. She was standing still,
holding a chair to keep herself from falling since her legs suddenly felt
like they were made out of jello.

     She likes me! She feels the same way I do, she thought as a silly
smile formed on her face. Ranma-chan had the sudden urge to do backflips
but thought better of it and did the only other thing he could think of--
she kept right on staring.

     Akane, meanwhile, was starting to get worried. The little girl in front
of her hadn't moved for a long while. "Uh...are you okay?"

     Ranma-chan snapped out of her trance-like state and smiled as she
figured out what she should do next. "I think I hear my mom calling me,"
she yelled as she ran out the door.

    Akane watched the younger girl run off, a confused look on her face
as she watched her receding form. "What was that all about?" she wondered
as she headed home.

                                   ***

     Ranma-chan ran to the Nekohanten and quickly changed clothes before
eating the antidote. She remembered to grab a nearby kettle, turning into
a he as he ran out the door and leaving Mousse wondering if he was ever
there.

     Ranma literally ran into Kuno as he rounded a corner, enraging the
upperclassman.

     "Saotome, I challenge you!"

     "Not now, Kuno," he said as he got up and plucked a rose from a
bouquet Kuno was holding.

     Ranma ran towards home and spotted Akane walking slowly as she watched
the sunset. "Akane!" he yelled as he ran to catch up while she turned
around and waited for him.

     He slowed down to a jog as he neared her, remembering to hide the
rose behind his back. His heart skipped a beat as he got closer and
noticed how beautiful she looked in the warm orange light.

     A breeze suddenly picked up, making her hair flutter carelessly. He
watched, mesmerized as she impatiently tucked a strand of hair behind her
ear, only to have it blown away again.

     As he reached her side, he nervously took her right hand and gave
her the red rose from behind his back.

     "There's something I've been meaning to tell you," he said, smiling
as he put her other hand into his and continued to walk home.

                                      THE END
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AUTHORS NOTES:
     Yaay! I'm finally done with this fanfic! Hope you enjoyed reading it.
I'd like to thank Gary Kleppe for his wonderful editing job and to all 
those who gave me their c&c.
     For those of you who's been living on Mars,Sailor V is from the anime
Salor Moon.Venus is also the name of the person who does Ranma-chan's
voice in the dubbed version.
     Please send your comments and criticisms to 

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