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Ranma 1/2:
Between a Rock and a Hard Place-


Ranma 1/2 - Between a Rock and a Hard Place

by Zen

Based on characters and situations created by Takahashi Rumiko
Ranma 1/2 and characters copyright Shogakukan, Kitty Animation 
Circle, and Takahashi Rumiko.
This story copyright 1996 - Jaime Bateman



***  ###  ***

"RANMA no baka!"  The chant was becoming almost a litany for 
Tendou Akane as she trained at the dojo.  Every kick, every blow, 
was punctuated with a syllable from her mantra.  "Ran-" [[whudd]] 
"Ma-" [[whudd]] "No-" [[whudd]] "Baka!" [[whudd][whudd]]...

Akane was in the courtyard of the dojo proper, using a practice post.  
The post was simplicity itself - a wooden timber driven into the 
ground.  At any normal dojo, they used four by four timbers for 
training posts.  But this was the Tendou Dojo, and four by fours 
would have been shattered like match sticks.  Fortunately, Nabiki 
had managed to get her Dad a good deal on a large load of surplus 
railroad ties - they lasted a little longer than the four by's would 
have - but not by much.

The top half of the post was wound with thick rope to provide a 
defined target area, and to keep the trainee from injuring her hands 
on the wood of the post.  Sometimes training posts were fitted with 
dummies stuffed with straw or cotton batting, which made for a 
more lifelike target, and even allowed for a modicum of 
personalization.  The stuffed dummy that Akane had on hers was 
sporting a shock of black hair tied into a distinctive ponytail - it 
seemed somehow appropriate, and it certainly helped her to focus 
her energy in her attacks.

She had worked up a steady rhythm of kicks and punches, and the 
post was starting to show signs of the strain.  With Akane's last 
attack, the post snapped and flew over the roof of the dojo, carrying 
her effigy of Ranma with it.  She stood for a moment, catching her 
breath, looking sadly at the splintered stump of the post.  Finally, 
Akane sighed and headed for the house and a warm, relaxing bath.

***  ###  ***

On the veranda opposite the Dojo, Soun and Genma were playing 
their usual game of Shogi.  Except for the earlier sounds of Akane's 
training, and the subsequent immersion of her training dummy in 
the fish-pond, the day had been abnormally quiet.  Happousai hadn't 
been seen in days.  Nabiki was off somewhere, probably separating 
some poor fool from as substantial a portion of his money as she 
could manage, and Kasumi was in the kitchen humming quietly to 
herself as she prepared the evening meal.  Even better, tonight 
dinner was going to be Kasumi's sukiyaki - All in all, it had been a 
very pleasant day.

"Your move, Saotome-kun"

Genma made a show of studying the board, but his mind was really 
not on the game.  On a day like today, he was content just to relax 
and go through the motions.  Everything seemed to be going so well.  
Ranma and Akane had not fought for more than a week now.  
Granted, their last fight had been one of the worst in recent memory, 
but since then Ranma had gone out of his way to avoid starting any 
arguments with his iinazuke.  At least, he had been keeping out of 
her way lately.  Perhaps he was trying to give her time to cool off.  
Genma saw an opening and moved a piece.

Soun looked hard at the board - He and Genma were more or less 
evenly matched - but both of them were better at cheating than 
actually playing.  Sometimes the games were more to see who could 
get away with what, rather than a real match.  It was a good way to 
spend quality time.  Soun sighed and moved a piece of his own.

***  ###  ***

After a thorough scrubbing, Akane was relaxing in the tub, letting 
the warmth of the water melt the tension from her.  After a while, 
her thoughts wandered (as they often did, though she would sooner 
die than admit it) back to her iinazuke.

Their last fight had kept her beating up boards and bricks for days.  
There were times when she wanted nothing more than to knock 
some sense into that pointed head of his, or some basic courtesy at 
the very least.  The nerve of him!

It had started as many of them had, while they were sparring in the 
dojo.  Akane had actually been in a good mood for a change - Kasumi 
had agreed to help her work through another chapter of their 
mother's notebook, and Akane was looking forward to it.  Where she 
had made her mistake was in sharing that news with Ranma.

Ranma had adopted a horrified expression, and made several rude 
remarks to the effect that a 'true martial artist' would not resort to 
bio-toxic weapons.  He had then proceeded to tell her in exacting 
detail what he thought her husband's chances of surviving her 
cooking were, assuming, of course, that she could find anyone willing 
to marry someone as kawaikunee as she was.

In retrospect, Ranma's reaction had been predictable.  He was always 
making fun of her cooking, always making fun of her attempts to 
behave like a girl, and then criticizing her for not being more 
feminine.  Akane felt that there was no way for her to win.  No 
matter what she did, Ranma would always make fun of her.

Akane knew that her cooking needed work, and she tried so hard.  
How did he expect her to improve if she didn't try to learn?  But no, 
he wouldn't even give her a chance.  It infuriated her - and it was 
even worse when she found out that he could cook better than she 
could.  Yes, in retrospect, Ranma's reaction had been perfectly 
predictable.  At the time though, it had been more than Akane could 
stand.

"Ranma no Baka!" she had cried, falling back into an all too familiar 
pattern.  She had advanced on him, her attacks driven more by rage 
than intelligence, she was so angry.  Ranma avoided her attacks 
fairly easily, which did little to improve Akane's temper.

"Stand still and take your lumps!" she had shouted.

"Akane, don't you get tired of always being so angry?"

"Of COURSE I do!" she had replied.  "But you never seem to get tired 
of MAKING me angry!  Don't you ever get tired of being such an 
insensitive jerk?"  By now Akane had backed Ranma into a corner of 
the dojo.

Ranma hopped lightly over her as she charged him.  "Kawaikunee," 
he retorted, "You'll have to be a lot faster than that!"  He landed 
behind her with a snicker.  Akane whirled to face him once more.

"Damned showoff..." she muttered.  "I'll show you..."

But Ranma didn't even seem to be listening.  In fact, he turned his 
back on her, as if he didn't even consider her to be a threat.  That 
was the last straw.  "Oooh, I HATE you!"  The brick she threw 
bounced squarely off the back of his head.  Ranma started to pitch 
forward, dazed.  "You can be..."  Akane's kick caught him before he 
could hit the floor, bringing his head back into striking range;  "...such 
an arrogant..."  her first backhanded blow rattled Ranma's teeth; 
"...*bastard*!" she screamed as her second hay maker struck home.  
Ranma dropped to the floor of the dojo like a sack of rice.  "Why 
don't you just go off and DIE, Ranma!"  He never saw the kick coming 
as she punted him through the doorway and out into the garden.  
Ranma-chan hadn't regained consciousness until an adventurous koi 
had tried to swim up her shirt.

Akane shifted in the tub.  "Ranma," she sighed to herself... "You can 
be *such* a jerk..."

***  ###  ***

Ranma was sitting at the Uuchan, idly poking at an okonomiyaki.  He 
had eaten a few bites, but for some reason he really wasn't hungry.  
Finally he just sighed and pushed the plate away.

Ukyou noticed the motion from the corner of her eye, and glanced in 
Ranma's direction.  Then she noticed that he had hardly touched his 
okonomiyaki.  That worried her - it was not like Ranma to pass up 
food, and she had reason to know that okonomiyaki was one of his 
favourites.  She headed over to Ranma's table and took the seat 
opposite him.

Ranma was resting his head in his hands, staring off into space.  
Ukyou shivered when she saw the expression on his face - it wasn't 
like him to be this depressed.

"Ran-chan?" she asked.  "Ran-chan?  What's wrong?"

Ranma didn't even seem to hear her.

"Ran-chan? - You're not still upset about that fight with Akane, are 
you?  That was days ago - I'm sure she's forgotten about it by now..."

For a moment the fire was back in Ranma's eyes.  "Upset over that 
Kawaikunee..." he began.  "of course not!" - but as he said it, Ukyou 
watched the fire die and the life just seemed to drain out of him.

Ukyou had no idea what to say.  For a moment, she felt a flare of 
anger of her own.  Why couldn't Ran-chan see how she felt about 
him?  Why did Akane always have to hurt him so?  It just wasn't 
fair!  Another look at Ranma's face, though, and the anger in her 
faded to be replaced with sympathy.  She couldn't stand to see him 
in such pain.

Ukyou looked around the shop.  It was the slow part of the 
afternoon, so she and Ranma had the place to themselves.  She got 
up, walked over to the door, flipped up the 'closed' sign, and turned 
the lock.  She didn't want to be disturbed right now; not when Ranma 
needed help so badly.  She went back to the table and sat down 
again.

"Ranma," she said,  "C'mon, Ran-chan - talk to me.  You'll feel better, I 
promise."

Ranma did not answer immediately.  For a while, she didn't think he 
was going to say anything, and when he did, it was so softly that she 
almost missed it.  "I'm fine, Ucchan," he sighed... "Just tired, that's all."

"Ran-chan - you've never lied to me before; don't start now," said 
Ukyou.  "I know you too well for you to get away with that."

Ranma managed a wan smile.  "Yes, I guess you do at that," he said.  
The smiled faded, but did not disappear completely.  Ranma looked 
down at the table for a moment, marshaling his thoughts.  "I dunno, 
I'm just tired of all the mess," he managed at last.  "Always fighting 
with Akane... Things have gotten so confusing.  I don't even know 
who I am anymore at times."

Ukyou blinked.  "Ran-chan, I know your curse is hard on you, but it 
really doesn't matter you know.  You're still the same person, no 
matter what gender you happen to be at the time."

Ranma smiled weakly again.  "Thanks, Ucchan, but that's not really 
what I meant.  Life has just gotten so... *complicated* lately.  I have 
three iinazuke, and if that's not trouble enough, half of the guys in 
town are out for my blood, and half want to ask me out.  Some of 
these clowns are in *both* groups.  I have that psychotic gymnast 
chasing after me, and if Mom ever finds out why I can't join the 
swim team, I'll have to commit seppuku."

"Complicated begins to sound like an understatement."

Ranma nodded miserably.  "And I just don't know what to do about 
it.  No matter which way I turn, it seems that someone is mad at me, 
and I have no idea just how I got into this mess, let alone how I can 
get out of it."

"I think I see," said Ukyou.  "Was that what started this last fight 
with Akane?  You've been in the dumps ever since."

"To tell you the truth, I don't know." said Ranma.  "Whenever Akane 
and I are together, we're at each other's throats - even when things 
start off okay, they usually end up with us fighting."  He sighed.  "I 
just can't figure her out."

Ukyou sighed heavily.  "Do you love her, Ran-chan?"

"What?!"  Sparks flew from Ranma's eyes.  "Love HER?"  Again, the 
sparks faded as quickly as they had come.  "Honestly? I don't have 
any idea how I feel about her - I've never really had the chance to 
find out.  Sometimes I think that I'm starting to like her, and then... 
well, then it all goes to hell and we're fighting again."

"But you've fought for her - several times."  Ukyou said.  "Would you 
have done that if you didn't care?"

"I dunno.  In a way, I owe her.  When Pop and I first came to the 
dojo, she was the only one who was nice to me - the only one who 
didn't seem somehow disappointed."

"Really?" asked Ukyou. "Somehow I find that hard to visualize."

"I thought that I had told you that story," Ranma said.  "When Pop 
and I first showed up here in Nerima, it was raining.  Pop had sent 
Mr. Tendou a postcard telling him to expect us, and we sort of got 
caught in the downpour on the way."

"So you were a girl at the time."

"Yeah, and not too happy about it, either.  Y'see this was the first I 
had ever heard of this whole iinazuke thing.  The first I'd heard of 
*any* of it, if you follow."

Ukyou nodded.  "I think that I'm starting to, Ran-chan."

"Anyway, when we got to the dojo, Mr. Tendou and the girls were 
waiting for us.  At first, Mr. Tendou didn't notice that I was a girl, but 
it didn't take long for Nabiki to point it out.  He fainted."

"He certainly seems to be high strung for a martial artist at times," 
observed Ukyou.

"He does at that," agreed Ranma.  "It certainly was embarrassing - 
sitting there as a girl listening to Kasumi trying to console her father, 
and Nabiki complaining to anyone who would listen that I wasn't 
what she had hoped for.  Akane's was the only friendly face in the 
whole room."

"So what happened?" asked Ukyou.

"Well, Akane and I went in to the dojo to spar a bit, while Pop was 
going to explain things to Mr. Tendou.  At the time, Akane was not 
nearly as good as she is now.  She was telegraphing her moves like 
she was Western Union.  After the match, she told me that she was 
glad that I was a girl.  She said that she would have hated to lose to a 
boy."

"Ah.  I see.  So she didn't take it well when your father explained it, 
right?"

"Sort of.  As it happened, she found out about it before any of the 
others.  After Kasumi showed me our room at the dojo, she suggested 
that I take a bath - at the time, it seemed like a good idea.  Akane 
decided to take a bath too, and since I had been a girl, well, I guess 
she decided that she didn't need to knock.  She walked in on me just 
as I was getting out of the tub."

"Hot water..." giggled Ukyou.

Ranma nodded.  "Hai.  She just backed out and then ran off 
screaming.  By the time I got dressed and came back out, she was 
threatening to come back and bash me with the table."  Ranma 
shuddered at the memory.  "Then Pop explained the curse, and at 
least Mr. Tendou felt better.  After that, all Akane would do was look 
at me and growl.  Like it was my fault or something.  It just went 
down hill from there.  Kasumi and Nabiki volunteered Akane as my 
iinazuke, and *she* accused *me* of peeping on *her* - and it was 
more than I could stand - that was the moment the whole 
'kawaii/kawaikunee' thing came up, and it's been a sticking point 
ever since."

"So what happened then?"

"She bashed me with the table after all - after which I accidentally 
walked in on *her* in the bath - so she slapped me.  Since then, it's 
been fight, fight, fight... and it never seems to end."

"I see," said Ukyou.  "So you feel obligated to her because she was 
nice to you when she thought you were a girl.  Never mind that she 
hasn't been very nice to you since."

"Basically," agreed Ranma, "But there's more to it than that, I think.  
Dr. Tofu once told me that Akane was a very sweet and caring girl.  
At the time, well, let's just say that I wasn't exactly convinced.  But 
there are times, rare times, when I think I see a little of what he 
meant - little flashes of kindness, and in those instants, she really is 
cute."

"So you *do* love her then."

"No! ... I mean yes! ... I mean no! ... Oh, hell, I don't know.  I'm not 
even sure I know what love is - or if it matters."  Ranma sighed.

"If it matters?" asked Ukyou, "What do you mean by that?  Don't you 
think you ought to love the person you're going to marry?"

"Yeah, I guess so, but who am I going to marry?  Akane is only *one* 
of the iinazuke Pop set me up with!  There's Shampoo, and also..." 
Ranma's voice died away as he turned red.

"...and there's also me." Ukyou finished for him.  "I'm afraid that I 
won't be able to give you any objective advice on that one, Ran-
chan."  She smiled at him a little sadly.

"I'm sorry,  Ucchan...  I... I never wanted to hurt you.  You're the one 
person that I *know* I can count on."  Ranma looked down at the 
table.  "I guess I'd better go..."  Ranma stood and headed for the door.  
As he turned the lock to open it, he paused, and turned back to 
Ukyou.  "Ucchan...  Thanks.  I'm glad you're here."  And he was gone.

Ukyou sat staring after him for a long time, trying very hard not to 
cry.  Finally she stood up.  "You're welcome, my love."  she said 
softly.

***  ###  ***

Ranma wandered slowly along the streets of Nerima, not really 
caring where he was going.   he thought to himself.  


A short distance away, Kunou Tatewaki watched as his hated rival 
(for the affections of *both* of his beloved, no less) walked by, as if 
in a daze.  He smiled to himself.  "Saotome, your inattention will be 
your downfall.  The time for divine retribution has come!"  With that, 
Kunou charged towards Ranma, his bokken swinging to attack.

Ranma, for his part, never even really noticed Kunou's attack above a 
sub-conscious level.  As Kunou got close enough, Ranma absently 
grabbed the end of his bokken, and with a deft twist, pulled Kunou 
forward - launching him into an arc that terminated - quite solidly - 
against the wall of a nearby building.  Kunou slid quietly to the 
ground.

"Bug off, Kunou," Ranma muttered to his unconscious attacker,  "I 
have a lot on my mind right now..."

***  ###  ***

Back at the Tendou Dojo, it was approaching the dinner hour.  Nabiki 
had come in an hour or so earlier, counting a wad of bills.  She had 
been in her room since, the only evidence of her presence being the 
occasional volley of clicking from the keyboard of her computer.  
Soun and Genma were in the midst of yet another game of Shogi 
while Kasumi set the table and made her final dinner preparations.

Akane had finished her bath and was relaxing with one of her 
favourite manga - a story about a young college student who falls in 
love with his apartment manager, and all of their peculiar friends 
and acquaintances.  The college student and the manager were 
forever victims of silly misunderstandings, but there seemed to be 
hope that it might all work out in the end.  Perhaps that was why she 
liked it - as bad as things got, there still seemed to be a light at the 
end of the tunnel.

 Akane thought to 
herself.  

***  ###  ***

Ranma was still wandering on a course that would eventually take 
him back by the dojo, but he was in no particular hurry.  Dinner 
would not be for another hour or so, and he had no desire to run into 
Akane just yet.  The last thing he felt like doing was getting involved 
in another fight with that kawaikunee tomboy.  His head still 
throbbed a bit when he thought about that *last* fight they'd had.

Besides, Akane had been getting more and more upset with him over 
things that just weren't his fault.  HE wasn't to blame for some stupid 
Amazon law.  It wasn't HIS fault that his father kept selling him for a 
meal... It wasn't his fault that some psychotic bimbo had taken a 
liking to him.  Ranma shuddered at the thought of Kodachi.

Ranma kicked at a pebble on the sidewalk.  "Stupid Akane.  Why 
does she have to be so violent?" he asked of no one in particular.  
"She never seems interested in hearing my side of it.  Whatever's 
going on, it just has to be my fault.  Why does she always blame 
ME?"

In fairness, Ranma had to admit that he needed to be a lot nicer to 
Akane.  He knew that he teased her too much.  He knew that she was 
trying to improve her domestic skills, but he just could not resist the 
openings she left him.  Akane could be such a contradiction at times - 
tough but vulnerable, graceful and clumsy, self-confident yet 
plagued by self-doubt.  It made her so difficult to understand.

Somehow, he always managed to say just the wrong thing.  Just when 
he thought they might actually have a chance of getting along, he 
said or did something that set her off again, and her smile would 
disappear in a shower of sparks.  It really was too bad.  She was so 
cute when she smiled - Ranma wished that she'd smile more often.

Down the street, a little black piglet wandered into the middle of the 
road, looking lost.  Ranma sighed to himself thinking about Akane.

A car screeched to a halt as its driver slammed on his brakes in an 
effort to miss the pig.  Ranma, hearing the noise, looked down the 
street.

A Mishima Heavy Industries delivery van, moving at a high rate of 
speed, swerved to miss the stalled car ahead of it.  Ranma looked up 
and saw Akane, as if she were smiling at him; eyes as bright as head 
lamps, forehead smooth as a windscreen, a flashing smile like the 
glint of the setting sun from the polished chrome of a bumper.  A sad 
little smile crossed his face as the delivery truck slammed into him, 
still doing well over 125 kph.

The truck did not carry Ranma far; a building brought both of them 
to a complete and abrupt stop.  As the smoke cleared, people could 
see the body of a young man pinned between the wreckage of the 
truck and the remains of the wall.  The bright red of his Chinese style 
shirt was awash with the darker red of his blood.

Within moments, an emergency crew had arrived and paramedics 
were fighting desperately to free Ranma or his remains from the 
wreckage.  As the truck was pulled away from the shattered 
remnants of the wall, rescue workers were astonished to hear a still 
semi-conscious Ranma muttering weakly...

"No...  Akane...  Don't..."  Ranma coughed, and blood welled up.  "A... 
ka... ne..."  Ranma's awareness faded completely and his breathing 
came to a stop.

"Medic! - Stat!" one of the workers called.

***  ###  ***

Kasumi was just clearing the dishes from dinner at the Tendou Dojo.  
The rest of the family was still sitting around the table thinking 
contented thoughts.

"Ahh, Kasumi, your sukiyaki is without equal,"  Genma enthused.  
"Truly a delight for the palate."

Kasumi smiled.  "Why thank you Mr. Saotome," she said.  "I'm glad 
that you enjoyed it.  I hope that you all saved some for Ranma."

"Ranma?" Genma looked startled.

"Why, yes." Kasumi said, gesturing at the clean bowls sitting at 
Ranma's place on the table.  "He hasn't gotten home yet."

Akane looked at the empty place at the table.  Kasumi was right, 
Ranma had not been there - his bowl was as clean as it had been 
when it had come from the cupboard.

"That's odd," Genma said.  "It's not like Ranma to miss a meal."

"Maybe he's at the Nekohanten, or the Uuchan," said Akane, her voice 
acid.

Genma considered this.  "Possible, but I don't think that he would 
pass up Kasumi's sukiyaki for that," he said.

"He'll turn up, Saotome-kun," said Soun.  "After all, Akane's here, 
right?"

"Right you are, Tendou-kun."  Genma agreed.  Akane just glowered.

***  ###  ***

By ten o'clock that night, Ranma still had not returned to the dojo, 
and people were starting to get concerned.  Kasumi called Ranma's 
friends to see if any of them had seen him lately.  The only 
affirmative answers she got were from Ukyou, who said that he had 
left her shop a little after four that afternoon, and Kunou, who could 
not say when he had seen him last, just that the foul cur Saotome 
must surely have fled to avoid his (Kunou's) wrath.  No one answered 
at the Nekohanten.

When Akane heard her sister's report, she was furious.  "That jerk!" 
she said.  "I'll bet he's out with Shampoo!  And here we were 
worrying about him!"

Nabiki came into the room in time to hear Akane's comment.  "I don't 
think so, sis." She said.  "Shampoo was by here a couple of hours ago 
looking for Ranma.  I told her that we hadn't seen him since before 
breakfast."

Akane cooled a bit when she heard that, but she was still miffed.  "So 
where would he be, then?" she asked.

About that time, there was a knock on the door.  Nabiki went to greet 
their visitor, while Akane sat fuming.  A moment later Nabiki came 
back, followed by Dr. Tofu.  Kasumi came in from the kitchen with a 
tray of things for tea.

"Konbonwa, Dr. Tofu!" she said cheerfully.  "How nice of you to drop 
by!"

Warning bells began ringing in the back of Akane's mind.  There was 
something very wrong here.  Kasumi had just walked in, and Dr. Tofu 
had barely noticed.

"Konbonwa, Kasumi-san," Tofu answered.  "Is Mr. Saotome here?"

Kasumi looked mildly puzzled.  "I think he's on the veranda with 
Father.  Shall I go see?"

"Please," said Dr. Tofu.  Kasumi set down her tray, and left to find 
Genma and Soun.

Akane felt herself going cold.  Her subconscious put two and two 
together, and got a very messy four.  "Tofu-sensei," she said.  Dr. Tofu 
looked toward her, and Akane saw the pain in his eyes.  "What's 
happened?" she asked.  "Where's Ranma?"

Dr. Tofu looked at the floor, and Akane felt her heart in her throat.  
"Oh no... - he's all right, isn't he?  Something terrible has happened, 
hasn't it?"

Kasumi returned followed by Genma and Soun.  "Here they are, Dr. 
Tofu," she said.  Then she noticed the doctor's expression, and that 
her sister was white as a sheet and shaking like a leaf.  "Oh, my," she 
said.  "Is there something wrong?"

Dr. Tofu took a deep breath and looked at the members of the 
Tendou family, and finally at Genma and Akane.  "Some..." he started, 
"Sometime this afternoon, Ranma was struck by a speeding delivery 
truck a few kilometers from here.  He was crushed between the 
truck and a building.  He's still in surgery at Nerima Medical Centre.  
The outlook..." his voice started to break, "the outlook is not good."

The others stared at Dr. Tofu in shock.  "My son..." said Genma, and 
sat down heavily.

"Oh, dear," said Kasumi.  She looked stricken.

Akane just stood there, staring at Dr. Tofu, willing the nightmare to 
end, wanting to wake up and find that it was all a bad dream, but 
knowing better.  Dr. Tofu was not given to cruel jokes, and only the 
gravest of emergencies could keep him sober when Kasumi was 
around.

Soun was in tears, babbling incoherently.  Genma looked up at Dr. 
Tofu.  "My son..." he said again.  "Will... will he live?"

"They don't know," said Dr. Tofu quietly.  "He's been in surgery for 
over four hours now.  That he has lived this long is no minor 
miracle."

***  ###  ***

The door to Akane's room exploded off its hinges as Akane ran to her 
bed, blinded by tears.  She buried her face in her pillow as great sobs 
wracked her, making her shake uncontrollably.  She didn't know how 
long she lay there, but she cried until the shaking lessened, and she 
was able to regain some minor amount of control.  She sat there, 
alone in the dark, crying quietly into her pillow.

"Oh, Ranma," she sobbed.  "You jerk!  Why'd you have to go and get 
hurt?  Why?"

It was some time before Akane noticed the silhouette in what 
remained of her doorway.  When she did, Kasumi came the rest of 
the way into the room, and sat down on the bed next to her.  Kasumi 
put her arms around her sobbing sister and held her, making soft 
shushing noises.

"Why, Kasumi?  How could Ranma get hit by a truck, of all things?" 
Akane cried.

"They don't know the whole story yet," Kasumi said.  "Apparently, a 
car stopped suddenly, and the truck swerved to avoid the car.  Then 
it hit Ranma, and the building."

"I still can't believe it." Akane sniffled loudly.  "I keep hoping that I'll 
wake up and this will all have been some kind of terrible dream.  Oh, 
Kasumi, what'll I do if... if... what'll I do if he *dies*?"

Kasumi held her sister as she cried, rocking gently.  Finally, Akane's 
shaking stopped, and, after a time, sleep claimed her.  Once she had 
been asleep for a while, Kasumi tucked her into her bed and quietly 
left the room.

***  ###  ***

Downstairs, a tense group of people was growing ever larger as more 
people learned of Ranma's fate.  Ukyou had been the first to arrive.  
She had called to find out if Ranma had gotten home yet, and had 
gotten Dr. Tofu.  Once she had the story, she was there within 
minutes.  She looked as if she had been crying, and was trying hard 
to stay in control.

Shampoo sat in a corner weeping quietly, while Mousse sat nearby, 
longing to be able to comfort her.  As much as he hated Ranma for 
stealing his darling Shampoo, he too hoped that Ranma would live, if 
only so he could see Shampoo smile again.  Cologne sat quietly, still 
as a statue, lost in thought.  Finally, she stood up and went to spell... 
err... relieve Kasumi in the kitchen.

Kasumi then joined Dr. Tofu in his vigil by the phone, talking quietly 
to him, and occasionally crying softly.  For once, Tofu found that he 
was able to just hold her, and offer her the comfort she needed.  He 
just wished that the price for his sanity wasn't so high.

***  ###  ***

News of Ranma's accident spread quickly as Nabiki made sure that 
everyone in the Nerima district knew the latest developments.  
Naturally these bulletins did not come free.  Even as she worried 
about Ranma, as deep in her heart she did, Nabiki retained enough 
presence of mind to milk the situation for every single yen that the 
market would bear.

Kunou's first reaction to the news had been a surge of elation.  "The 
vengeance of heaven is slow, but sure," he told himself.  "Surely the 
Gods themselves have struck down the evil Saotome."  Immediately 
he began to plan his campaign to console the grieving Tendou Akane, 
and his beloved Pig-tailed Girl.

Kunou Kodachi, on the other hand, had taken the news with 
somewhat less aplomb.  To put it more succinctly, she freaked.  
Within hours, the Tendou Dojo, Furinkan High, and the Nerima 
Medical Centre were hip deep in bouquets of black roses.  When the 
doctors refused her admittance to the OR where Ranma was still in 
surgery, she took it ill, and they threatened to lock her in the Saeko 
Ward.

Upon hearing of Ranma's accident, Gosunkugi Hikaru found himself in 
something of a quandary.  Here he had been granted one of his most 
ardent wishes, the seeming removal of Saotome Ranma, which meant 
he had one less rival for Tendou Akane.  Not that it really mattered, 
he thought glumly.  Akane would never look twice at him no matter 
how many of her suitors were eliminated.  When he heard about 
Akane's reaction to the accident, Hikaru decided that he had a lot of 
thinking to do.  He was not a fundamentally unkind person; he 
genuinely cared for Akane and did not like to think of her being 
unhappy.  When he realized how much Ranma's death would hurt 
her, he was deeply ashamed of a lot of the things he had wished for.  
For the first time in his life, Hikaru found himself praying just as 
ardently for his hated rival's recovery.  Hours later, had anyone 
thought to look through the ashcans behind the Gosunkugi household, 
they might have found a number of small dolls with black pigtails, 
various sharp implements, and a toy truck.

***  ###  ***

The next morning, would-be customers found there was a sign on the 
Uuchan that read "Closed until Further Notice."  The proprietor of 
that establishment was still at the Tendou Dojo, waiting for further 
news of Ranma's condition.

Akane, after a troubled night's sleep, was coming down the stairs 
when the silence of the morning was shattered by the strident ring 
of the telephone.  Akane was over the rail and had the receiver to 
her ear before there was time for a second ring.  "Moshi moshi," she 
said, "Tendou Dojo."  There was a brief pause while she listened to 
the person on the other end of the line.  "Hai.  I'll get him for you - 
please hold on for a second."  Akane found Dr. Tofu dozing by the 
extension phone, and Kasumi cuddled beside him, her head pillowed 
on his lap.  She smiled sadly to herself, wishing that she didn't have 
to awaken them.

By the time Dr. Tofu was off the phone, Akane had everyone else 
gathered, waiting to hear the latest news.  Dr. Tofu looked around the 
sea of anxious faces.  He took a deep breath and told them what he 
had learned.  "Ranma... Ranma is out of surgery..." he began.  A wave 
of relieved sighs greeted this pronouncement, but Tofu held up his 
hand.  "However," he continued, "he has not regained consciousness;  
he is in a deep coma."

"But he made it, he's going to be OK, right?"  Akane looked so hopeful, 
Dr. Tofu hated what he had to say next.

"They don't know.  Several of his ribs were broken and the internal 
damage was very bad.  Only Ranma's superb physical condition and 
his innate tenacity kept him alive long enough for them to get him 
into surgery.  He has made it past the first hurdle, but that is all they 
can say."

Akane was crestfallen. "What does that mean?"

"Akane," said Dr. Tofu gently, "I'm sorry.  They just don't know.  He 
could wake up tomorrow, he could wake up in a month, or he might 
never wake up at all.  There is just no way to tell."

"I see," said Akane quietly.

Dr. Tofu continued, "They will be moving Ranma to a private room in 
the Post Op later this morning.  He'll be allowed visitors in a couple of 
days.  At this point, it is as much a matter of time as anything else."

***  ###  ***

When the orderlies wheeled Ranma into his room in the hospital, 
Kuonji Ukyou was there waiting for them.  At first, the nurse in 
charge seemed reluctant to allow her presence, but she explained 
patiently that she was Ran-chan's iinazuke and that there was no 
force they could muster that could keep her away from his side.  
Between her persuasive charm, her bandoleer of rather sharp 
throwing spatulas, and the obvious pain in her eyes, she convinced 
the nurse that it would be better if she were allowed to stay.

Once she was convinced that Ukyou's driving interest was in the 
patient's swift recovery, the Head Nurse of the Post Op Ward did 
everything she could to help make Ukyou more comfortable.  She 
even went so far as to have a couple of well padded chairs placed in 
the room, and a small futon in the closet, so Ukyou would have a 
place to catch a nap when she needed it.  She commented several 
times on how fortunate the patient was to have such a devoted 
iinazuke.  Ukyou's only response to that remark was to nod her 
thanks and smile a little sadly.

Before long, Ranma and all of his support monitors were installed in 
the room, and a kind orderly had taken the time to explain to Ukyou 
what each instrument did, and what to watch out for, so she could 
call the doctors, if needed.  The array of equipment was impressive, 
and reminded Ukyou of all of the blinking lights and instruments 
from the sickbay aboard the starship from that American SF show 
that had such a following.  She wished that they really did have that 
level of medical technology.

Ukyou pulled one of the chairs closer to Ran-chan's bed, and eased 
into it.  It was going to be a long wait.  Fortunately, she had *lots* of 
books.

***  ###  ***

Two days later, Genma was downstairs talking to the Doctors.  They 
had little more to tell him than Dr. Tofu had, which, all in all, was not 
much.

"Rest assured, Mr. Saotome," the Doctor was saying, "Ranma is in the 
best of hands.  This is one of the most advanced facilities in the 
world today, and the staff is all first rate."

"You said 'one of the most advanced'," Genma said.  "Is there a better 
place for Ranma to be?"

"Mr. Saotome, the only facility more advanced than this one is in 
Graviton City, and they can do nothing for this type on injury that we 
cannot.  Your son is receiving the very best of care."

Genma nodded.  "Arigatou, sensei.  Tell me, how is my son doing?  
When will he wake up?"

The doctor looked uncomfortable.  "Saotome-san...  Genma... your son 
is one of the finest physical specimens that I have ever seen.  He has 
made it through the surgery, and that is a good sign - it was no small 
feat.  But the bottom line is that all we can do now is wait, and pray.  
It is up to Ranma.  We've repaired the physical damage.  If he has 
the strength; if he has the will, then he will probably live.  If he does 
not, then no force on Earth can save him."

Genma nodded his thanks again, and walked over to where Soun was 
sitting and sobbing.  He sat down next to his longtime friend.

"Saotome-kun, what are we going to do?" Soun wailed.  "If Ranma 
dies, who will carry on our legacy?  Who will care for Akane?"

Genma shook his head.  "I don't know, Tendou-kun.  I don't know."

"And," continued Soun, "Who will tell Nodoka-san?"

While Genma and her father renewed their prayers for Ranma's 
recovery, Akane approached the doctor.

"Sensei," she asked, "When can I see Ranma?"

The doctor looked at Akane and smiled.  "I suppose you can see him 
just about any time.  Just knock on the door to his room, and his 
iinazuke will let you in."

Whatever reaction the doctor had expected from Akane, the 
explosion he got was *not* it.  "Iinazuke?" she shrieked.  "WHAT are 
you *talking* about?  I'M his iinazuke!"

"You are?  But I thought that...  Miss Kuonji said...  She's been with 
him for the last two days.  She's never left his side."

Akane's shout had brought Genma running.  The badly flustered 
doctor turned to him for some measure of sanity.  Big mistake.  "Mr. 
Saotome," he asked, "can you explain this?"

"Uncle Saotome," Akane began, "Tell him!  Tell him that Ranma is MY 
iinazuke!  Not Ukyou's!"

Genma looked from the doctor to Akane and back again.  "Well, it's 
like this..." he started.

The doctor held up his hand.  "Please," he said, "Just tell me which of 
these young ladies is iinazuke to my patient."

Genma looked uncomfortable.  "Well, actually..." he cringed at 
Akane's expression, "actually, both of them are." he finished with a 
sigh.

The doctor was incredulous.  "Are you telling me that Ranma has 
TWO iinazuke?"

"Of course not!" said Genma.  "That would be silly."

"It would." agreed the doctor, waiting.

"Ahh... umm... actually...  he has three," said Genma, staring at the 
floor once more.

"Three!?!  Mr. Saotome, tell me.  Had Ranma's behaviour prior to the 
accident been in any way... unusual?"

The question caught Genma off guard.  "I don't think so; why do you 
ask?"

The doctor glanced at Akane, who had been following the exchange 
with interest, and a worried expression.  "Mr. Saotome, there is 
someone that I would like for you to talk to."  He turned to Akane.  
"You may go up to Ranma's room, if you wish.  Just remember, he 
needs the support of all the people who love him."

"Hai, sensei.  Arigatou." said Akane.  She watched as the doctor led a 
confused looking Genma off toward the office wing.

***  ###  ***

Tendou Akane hesitated outside the door to Ranma's room.  Ukyou 
was in there, and it made Akane mad.  What gave her the right to 
have been with him while the rest of them had to wait for two days?  
They had just let her in because she had claimed to be his iinazuke.  
 she thought angrily.  
Then another thought struck her.    She shook her head and sighed.

Akane entered the room as quietly as she could.  Ranma lay in his 
bed, tubes and wires running from his battered body to the complex 
of medical equipment humming efficiently behind it.  Kuonji Ukyou 
was curled up in a chair with a copy of "Tsuki Aijin Kibishii Desu."  
She had been reading it to Ranma.  She looked up as Akane closed 
the door behind her.

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence as the two girls 
looked at each other.  Finally, Akane's gaze dropped to the floor.  
"How is he doing?" she managed to ask.

"His condition hasn't changed since he was brought in," replied 
Ukyou.

Akane flinched at that remark, then she let her temper get the better 
of her.  "Speaking of that, just what are you doing in here, anyway?

Ukyou looked at Akane coldly.  "I'm Ran-chan's iinazuke," she said 
simply.  "It is my duty, and my right to be here."

Akane bristled.  "I'M his iinazuke," she spat.  "Not you."

Ukyou raised an eyebrow.  "Really?  This is the first time I've heard 
*you* make that claim.  Do you love him then?"

"You know perfectly well that Ranma's dad and mine had..."

"I don't give a *damn* about that," Ukyou hissed.  "I'm the one who 
loves him.  YOU... *you* are the one who told him to go off and die.  
Are you happy now?  Are you?!"

Akane felt as if she had just been slammed in the gut.  The fragile 
control she held over her emotions was shattered, and she fell to her 
knees with a sob.

Ukyou watched Akane, and immediately regretted her words.  She 
dropped her book and went to kneel by Akane's side.

"Gomen nasai, Akane-san," she said softly.  "I shouldn't have said 
those things.  Please, come over here and sit down."  She led Akane 
gently over towards the other chair, and eased her down into it.

She reached out to comfort the sobbing girl.   
she thought to herself.    Ukyou smiled sadly.  

Ukyou procured a cup, and poured some hot tea from a thermos 
bottle.  She passed the cup to Akane, who took it gratefully.  Akane 
took a sip and let the tea chase the chill from her body.  She looked 
at Ukyou from tear swollen eyes.  "How..." she faltered as another sob 
threatened to overwhelm her.  She fought for control.  "Who... who 
told you that I said that?"

"Ran-chan did, of course.  We talk all the time.  There are very few 
secrets between us."

"It's true, you know.  I *did* say that, but... he... you have to know 
that... I never meant it like this!"

Ukyou's expression softened.  "I know," she said.  "And Ranma does 
too."

Akane sighed. "I wish he would talk to *me* more."

"Funny," said Ukyou, as she poured herself a cup of tea, "He was 
saying the same thing about you just the other day."

***  ###  ***

Ranma-chan came to in a blinding flash of pain.  Every part of her 
body hurt, and her chest felt like it was on fire.  She shook her head 
to get rid of the haze and immediately wished she hadn't.

 she thought to herself.  

(As it happens, someone *did*, but Ranma's question at this point 
was of a more rhetorical nature.)

"Where am I?" she asked as the world around her slowly started to 
come into focus.  As she looked around, the short answer appeared to 
be "in deep trouble."

Ranma-chan was sitting on a ledge that jutted between three and 
five meters out from a sheer cliff.  The cliff face itself was fairly 
smooth, with occasional breaks or protrusions but little other surface 
detail.  She looked up.  The ledge she was on seemed to be around a 
hundred meters from the top of the cliff.  On the downside was a 
drop that appeared bottomless - it had to be well over a thousand 
meters; it may have been ten times that.  In either direction was the 
occasional line that might, or might not, be another ledge.  
Experimentally, she tossed a stone over the edge, and watched as it 
fell.  It vanished into the distance far below.  She never did hear it 
strike bottom.

"This is cute," Ranma-chan said to herself.  "I wonder how I got here?  
Come to that, I wonder where *here* is."  She looked down at herself.  
"And when did I get wet?"

Ranma-chan slid painfully across the ledge until her back was 
against the cliff face.  It hurt like hell, but nothing seemed to be 
broken.  She turned her attention once more to the landscape.  There 
was plenty of light, but she could not see the sun.  The sky was a 
peculiar shade of dark blue, and there were no stars to be seen.  
Occasional flashes of colour rippled through the sky in the distance, 
like some hentai aurora.  Below was just inky blackness.  She couldn't 
even make out the horizon with any degree of reliability.

 she thought glumly.  


Ranma-chan got slowly and painfully to her feet.  She peered along 
the ledge to either side, but could see nothing.  Picking a direction at 
random, she started walking, hugging the cliff face.  Before long, she 
came to the end of the line - the ledge disappeared into the rock face 
once more, leaving just the kilometer-plus drop.

"Well, *that* won't work," she muttered.  She turned and went back 
the way she had come.

***  ###  ***

It was late that night when Akane got back to the Dojo.  She really 
felt guilty for coming home at all; Ukyou was still with Ranma, and 
she felt that she should have been there too.  However, she had not 
gone to the Medical Centre with a long stay in mind, so if nothing 
else, she would have had to come home for clothes and things.  She 
planned to go back the next morning with a view toward staying for 
days at a time.

Akane wished that she could be more like Ukyou.  She envied Ukyou 
her confidence.  Ukyou was not afraid to let a person know how she 
really felt.  Hell, she just envied Ukyou her certainty about her 
feelings towards Ranma.  If only she could be as sure how she felt.  
One way or another, anything would be better than the confusion 
that had ruled her life since Ranma's arrival.   she corrected herself.

Despite the lateness of the hour, Akane did not feel like going to 
sleep.  She was still keyed up from the events of the afternoon, and 
the emotional roller coaster ride she had been on for the past few 
hours.  Instead of her pajamas, she changed her clothes for her gi 
and headed for the dojo to partake of her favourite form of 
relaxation - reducing perfectly usable building materials to piles of 
rubble.

Upon entering the training hall, however, Akane found that she was 
not alone.  Saotome Genma was sitting quietly against one wall, 
apparently lost in meditation.  Akane, not wishing to disturb him, 
began to back out of the hall as quietly as possible.  Before she could 
leave, Genma spoke.

"Please, Akane.  Do not leave."

Akane froze in her tracks.  "Gomen nasai, Mr. Saotome.  I didn't wish 
to intrude..."

"You are not intruding, Akane.  Please, come in.  I would like to talk 
to you, if you don't mind."

Akane walked in and sat down next to Ranma's father.  There was a 
long moment of silence which Genma finally broke.

"Akane, please tell me.  Had you noticed anything unusual in Ranma's 
behaviour prior to the accident?"

"Unusual?" Akane asked.  "I'm not really sure..."

"Please.  Think hard."

Akane wasn't sure what to think.  "Nothing really unusual, no,  unless 
you count a whole week with no real fights.  But then, I hardly saw 
him during that week, so I don't suppose that counts.  Why are you 
asking?"

Genma sighed heavily.  He hated to add to Akane's misery, but for 
once in his life, he decided that honesty was the best approach.  "The 
doctors are concerned - if the accident report was accurate, then 
Ranma should have been able to avoid it.  He didn't."

"What are you trying to say, Mr. Saotome?"

"The woman who was driving the truck said that Ranma was looking 
right at her, and he made no effort to avoid being struck.  She does 
not think that Ranma *wanted* to get out of the way.  The doctors 
are worried that if that is true, then Ranma may not have the will to 
come out of his coma.  If that is the case, then Ranma will die."

Akane was shocked.  "You mean... you mean that they think Ranma 
*wanted* to die?  That he...  NO!  I can't believe that Ranma would 
want to... I can't accept that!  It's not true!"

Genma looked stricken.  "I only pray that you are right, Akane-chan.  
I only pray that you are right."

***  ###  ***

Ranma-chan sat down, and tried to come up with a plan of action.  
The other direction had been no more help than the first.  Instead of 
petering out this time, the ledge had ended abruptly, again leaving 
nothing but a drop of more than a klick.

Furthermore, she had started to notice a number of things about the 
environment that just didn't add up.  For example, there was no 
wind.  On a ledge like this there ought to have been one hellaceous 
crosswind - at least there had been in every movie she had ever 
seen.  Here, there wasn't even a breeze.  In fact, aside from her own 
voice and footsteps, there was no sound at all.  The stillness was 
eerie.  Ranma-chan shuddered.  Where *was* she?  This looked like 
no place on Earth.

 she thought.  She discarded that 
idea in short order.  It wasn't that she had trouble with the idea of 
alien abductions, or space travel (her favourite manga were full of 
such things), it was just that her surroundings were more surreal 
than real.  Yes, that was it.  Nothing around her seemed to be real.

"Computer," she said.  "Exit."  Nothing happened.  "Computer... end 
program."  Still nothing.  Ranma-chan shrugged.  It had been worth a 
try.

She looked down again.  The drop looked real enough; real enough 
that she felt disinclined to test it.  She had the definite impression 
that Down was a Bad Thing.



Another thought drifted across her mind.    
Again the idea was discarded after brief consideration.   she thought,   She was by no means 
absolutely sure of her reasoning, but it felt right.  She didn't feel 
dead.  

Having resolved that to her satisfaction, she was still left with the 
mystery of where she was, and how she was going to go about not 
being there anymore.  She couldn't go to either side, and Down was a 
Bad Thing.  That left Up.  She looked toward the top of the cliff and 
swallowed hard.   she thought.  She sighed and started 
looking for handholds.

***  ###  ***

Akane sat on her bed, her knees drawn up under her chin, thinking.  
The very idea of Ranma's wanting to die was ridiculous.  Wasn't it?  
She simply couldn't imagine it.

But Ranma's ability to sense and avoid danger was almost legendary.  
Surely if he could avoid all the sneak attacks, he could have avoided 
something like a delivery truck.  Was it true?  Had Ranma really 
wanted to get hit?

Ranma *had* been acting a little strangely lately...  He had been 
unusually quiet - oddly distracted.  In retrospect, it seemed like he 
had been going out of his way not to say anything mean to her.  In 
fact, it was like he had been trying to avoid saying anything at all to 
her.  Whenever a fight had appeared imminent, *Ranma* had 
actually paused, in mid-insult, and just walked away.  At the time, it 
had infuriated her.  Now, it terrified her.

Not only that, he had been avoiding fights with everyone else, too.  
When a fight could not be avoided, he ended it uncommonly quickly 
- as if he had no interest in what was gooing on.  It was as if he were 
a million miles away, his body fighting on remote control.

All in all, it was behaviour that was certainly unlike what she had 
come to expect from the Ranma she knew, and in light of Mr. 
Saotome's questions, it was starting to scare her.  She got a cold 
feeling in the pit of her stomach every time she thought about it.  
She remembered enough from her psychology class at school to know 
that sudden changes in behaviour could mean trouble, but she still 
had a hard time with the concept of Ranma taking his own life.   she thought, 

He had been that way ever since their last fight.  Ever since the 
afternoon that she had shouted for what must have been the ten 
thousandth time that he ought to just go off and die.   she thought miserably.    Once 
more, Akane cried herself to sleep.

***  ###  ***

Ranma-chan was about twenty meters above the ledge where she 
had wakened.  Twice already she had made this climb, only to have 
one of her handholds give way and send her crashing back down 
onto the ledge from which she had come.  The second time, she had 
almost kept going.

Ranma-chan paused to catch her breath as she studied the cliff face.  
Another five meters or so above her was a line that she was pretty 
sure meant another ledge.  Once she got there, she could rest a bit 
before the next leg of her climb.  But it was not going to be easy.  
Real or not, in this place the laws of physics still seemed to apply.  
Her bruised posterior was ample evidence of that.  The damned ledge 
was *hard*.

***  ###  ***

Ukyou had spent a restless night after Akane left.  She knew that 
deep down, Akane cared for Ranma, and vice versa.  She could 
appreciate the irony of a relationship where two people cared about 
each other but would admit it to no one, least of all themselves.  It 
made her so mad sometimes to see the way that Akane treated Ran-
chan.  Why couldn't she just be a little more patient with him?

She was under no illusions about Ranma - she knew that he made it 
hard on Akane.  She knew that he could be stubborn beyond belief.  
She knew that he could be thoughtless, even cruel when he was 
angry.  After all, she *had* known him longer that just about anyone 
else; and certainly longer than either of his other two iinazuke.

But she also knew him for what he was - a loving person who valued 
his friends, and would do anything to help them, anything to protect 
them.  She knew how it tore at him when he knew that he had said 
something to hurt Akane, or Shampoo, or her, and how he struggled 
to swallow his pride and apologize; a struggle he all too often lost.

She had seen the hurt in his eyes after a fight with Akane, and she 
knew how deep that hurt could go, though Ranma would sooner die 
 than admit it.  She just loved him all the more for it.  
Ever since she and Ranma had been little, his wife was what she had 
most wanted to be.

Ukyou smiled tenderly at Ranma, and thought back to happier, 
simpler times, when she and Ranma had been small children, and 
Ranma had come every day for the special okonomiyaki that she 
would always prepare for him.  She basked briefly in the warmth of 
the memory.

Of course, those times had not stayed happy.  Her father had known 
how she felt about Ranma, and had taken steps to see that her wish 
was granted.  She remembered the day that her father had offered 
his yattai as bridegift for the marriage.  She remembered how happy 
she had been when her father had told her that Mr. Saotome had 
accepted his offer.  It seemed as if all her dreams were to come true 
after all.

She remembered too, the crushing agony of the day that she awoke 
to find Mr. Saotome and Ranma leaving with her father's yattai, but 
without her.  She had felt so betrayed that she had resolved never to 
love another person, and for years, she had not.  She had even given 
up on being a girl.  Instead, she had honed her martial arts skills in 
the hope that one day, she might have her revenge on those who had 
betrayed and abandoned her.

Finally, after ten years, she had tracked them down - Tracked them 
down only to find that Ranma had had no part in abandoning her - 
that Ranma had never been told that she was to have been his wife - 
that Ranma had never even known that she was a girl, and that his 
only memories of her were memories of his best friend, whom he 
had been so sad to leave.

She chuckled when she thought about that day - She had been so 
sure that Ranma had thrown her away, just as his father had.  She 
had seen Ranma's horrified reactions to his father's confession, and at 
first, she had thought it was an act.  She would have her revenge.  
She had challenged him to a duel, a duel that she probably would 
have lost, had it come to that.  When the fight had begun, there were 
a couple of times she was sure she was going to win, but Ranma was 
just too slippery.

To make matters more confusing, he hadn't seemed to be able to take 
her challenge seriously.  It had puzzled her at the time - how could 
he act as though they were still friends?  It had hit her then, that he 
had never stopped caring for her.  And when he had called her cute, 
the hard lump in her heart had melted, and she knew that she still 
loved him, now more than ever.

She remembered his shock when her shirt had been ripped during 
the fight, and he had realized that she was a girl.  She remembered 
being puzzled at his reaction - why had he dumped hot water on 
her?  The answer to *that* question had come later, along with 
stories of how he had been engaged to Akane, and how he had gotten 
mixed up with the princess of the Joketsuzoku Amazons.  Ran-chan 
had been right, his life *had* gotten awfully complicated.

But the things that had made Ranma the person she had loved had 
only grown stronger over the years.  He had his flaws, to be sure, but 
they were minor by comparison.  And now it looked like she might 
lose him again.  But this time, she would fight.  She was not going to 
let Ranma be taken from her easily.

When sleep finally came, Ukyou's dreams were filled with images of 
Ran-chan, alive and well.  Right now that dream was more important 
to her than any other.

***  ###  ***

When Akane awoke the next morning, the sun was bright in the sky, 
the birds were singing, and the air was fresh and crisp.  Akane had 
no appreciation for any of it.  Her mood was as black as it had been 
the night before.

She still could not make herself believe that there was anything 
deliberate about Ranma's accident.  Despite his odd behaviour, it was 
just too unlike him to take the coward's way out.  Ranma was a jerk a 
lot of the time, her friend some of the time, her confidant on rare 
occasions, and her protector always.  Never a coward.  Still, there 
existed that nagging little doubt - just enough to be unsettling.

Akane got up and started to pack her things for a protracted stay at 
the Nerima Medical Centre.  As she turned back to her pack with an 
armload of clothes, she found Happousai sitting in the pack, fondling 
her undergarments.  Something snapped, and a deadly silence 
descended upon the room.

When he saw that he had been caught in the act, as it were, 
Happousai leapt for Akane, intent on grabbing a quick grope.  As 
usual, Akane blocked his approach and slammed the old lecher to the 
floor.  This time, however, she followed up with a rabbit punch to the 
throat that left Happousai gasping for breath, and a warning.

"Touch me again, you diseased little toad, and I will *kill* you."  she 
hissed.

Happousai was shocked at the icy fury in Akane's voice.  There was 
no doubt in his mind that she meant every word.  He just couldn't 
understand what had come over the normally angry but basically 
sweet baby of the Tendou clan.  Seeing the expression on her face, he 
wasn't inclined to argue, either.  Instead, he invoked the Saotome 
Ultimate Technique - he ran away.

After Happousai was gone, it took Akane a few moments to cool 
down to the point where she trusted herself to be around other 
people.  The old man had just picked the *wrong* time to mess with 
her.  Once she had calmed a bit, she finished her packing, and took 
her bag downstairs.  Kasumi had breakfast just about ready.

***  ###  ***

Akane was on her way back to the Medical Centre when she heard 
someone calling her name.

"Tendou Akane," said the voice.  "A moment if you please.  Wilst thou 
hold?"

Even if she hadn't recognized the voice, there was only one person in 
all of Nerima, perhaps even all of Japan, that talked that way.  Akane 
rolled her eyes, and replied in an exasperated tone.  "What do you 
want, Kunou?  I really don't have time for this right now."

"I shall take but a moment of your time, dear Akane," said Kunou.  "I 
come to offer my condolences in your time of sorrow..."

That caught Akane by surprise.  "Condolences," she said.  "Are you 
feeling all right?"  She turned to face him.

Kunou stood there, his expression somber, his bokken at his side, and 
two large bouquets of red roses in his hands.  He handed one of the 
bouquets to Akane.  "Please accept this simple token of my sympathy 
for your loss," he said.

Akane's expression darkened.  "What do you mean, my loss?  Ranma 
isn't dead yet, you know."  (She fervently hoped that this was true)

Kunou shook his head and sighed.  "The net of heaven is a coarse 
mesh, but none escape its grasp.  It is but a matter of time.  Now tell 
me, whither the Pig-tailed Girl?  I would deliver these (he indicated 
the remaining bouquet) unto her."

"So sure of Ranma's fate, are you?" Akane smirked.  "Well, Kunou, I 
hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if I were you, I'd start praying 
very hard for Ranma to recover."

"And why should I do that, pray tell..."

"Because, if Ranma dies, then your pig-tailed goddess will surely 
follow."

"Nani?!  Is that foul sorcerer's spell over her so strong?  I cannot 
accept such a pronouncement!  Tell me, Tendou Akane, tell me where 
I might find her.  I must go at once to her aid."

There was a cold glint in Akane's eye.  "I'm sorry Kunou, but no one 
has seen her since Ranma's accident.  I know her pretty well, though, 
and I can assure you that their lives are linked.  If Ranma dies, she 
will die, and there is nothing you or anyone else can do about it.  
Now if you will excuse me..."  She turned to go.  Behind her, she could 
hear Kunou's lamentations over the fate of his beloved pig tailed girl 
- in fact, she was sure that the whole ciity could hear him.  She sighed 
to herself as she walked on toward the Medical Centre, and her own 
thoughts returned to Ranma's fate.  

***  ###  ***

Ranma-chan lay on her back panting.  She had finally made it up to 
the next ledge, but the climb had been hard.  Every muscle in her 
body ached, and she was exhausted.

Wherever she was, she did not approve of the inferior quality of the 
rock.  Several handholds had broken under her weight, and she 
almost hadn't made it as a result.  For once she was glad to be a girl - 
with the added weight she carried in her male form, she might not 
have been so lucky.  If nothing else, Ranma had learned the value of 
a tradeoff from the curse.

As she was too tired to resume climbing right away, there was little 
else to do but think.  She still could not remember how she had 
gotten to this strange place.  Her memories in general seemed a tad 
hazy, not so much out of reach as out of focus.  The last thing that she 
thought she remembered had been walking back toward the dojo 
from Ucchan's.  But she was also pretty sure that she had been a guy 
at the time.  She (he) had been thinking about Akane, - there had 
been a flash of light, and then nothing.  The next thing Ranma-chan 
remembered was waking up on the ledge below.

The silence was really starting to get on her nerves.  It was so quiet 
that she could hear her own heart beating... it was spooky.  Ranma-
chan sat up, slowly this time, and turned her attention once more to 
the cliff face before her.  She thought that she could see another 
ledge about fifteen meters above her.   she thought to 
herself, 

***  ###  ***

Ukyou and Akane sat in Ranma's room, maintaining their silent 
vigils.  Ukyou was reading another book, "Sakyu", but she could not 
keep her mind on the story.  For her part, Akane was struggling with 
a pair of knitting needles, and a ball of yarn that was getting more 
and more tangled by the second.  Finally, Akane tossed the mass 
away from her in frustration.

Ukyou looked up from her book, glad of the distraction.  "Akane-
chan?" she asked.

Akane sighed heavily.  "Gomen nasai, Ukyou...  I didn't mean to 
disturb you."

"You're not, Akane-chan.  I don't really feel like reading right now 
anyway."  She put the book down on the table next to her chair.  
"What are you working on?"

"Nothing, really.  I can't seem to get those damn things (she indicated 
the discarded knitting needles) to work.  Onee-chan makes it look so 
simple, but all I get is a tangled mess."

Ukyou eyed the mass of green and blue yarn dubiously.  "Maybe 
you're just trying too hard."  She said.  "Why don't you take a break, 
and try again once you've had a chance to relax a little?"

"It's no use, Ukyou," said Akane.  "I'll never get it right."  She looked 
over at Ranma lying in his bed, and sniffed.  "Even Ranma is better at 
this than I am.  I guess that's one of the things that bugs me most 
about him.  He's a *boy* and he makes a better girl than I do.  He's a 
better cook, he knows more about crafts, he's better looking as a girl 
than I am...  It's not fair!"  Akane was practically in tears.

"You're being too hard on yourself Akane-chan.  After all, which one 
of you is it that all the guys are fighting over at school?  There is 
nothing he can do that you can't learn - you just have to have the 
patience."

"HE never seems to have any trouble" sighed Akane.

"That's because he's an eidetic.  Show him a technique, for anything, 
and give him a reason, and he'll learn it.  He rarely has to be shown 
twice.  It's one of the things that makes him such a good martial 
artist."

"What has that got to do with cooking?" asked Akane.  "What reason 
would he have had to learn that?"

"If I had to guess, knowing Ran-chan, either some fool told him that 
he couldn't do it, or else they told him that he couldn't beat them at 
it.  I'm willing to bet that if you could convince him that quantum 
mechanics was a martial art, Stephen Hawking would be out of a job.  
You know how competitive Ran-chan can be..."

Akane managed a smile at that.  Everyone who knew Ranma knew 
how he hated to lose.  At anything.  And in this case, she had a pretty 
good idea just who that fool had been.  Then she sobered.  "Ukyou..."

"Yes, Akane-chan?"

"Why are you being so nice to me?  I mean... After all, we're..."

"Rivals?"

Akane nodded.

Ukyou thought about the question for a moment.  "I suppose it's 
because Ran-chan cares about you so much."

The answer caught Akane off guard.  "Nani??  He does?!?"

"Didn't you know?"

"No... I mean... He never said anything to me..."

Ukyou smiled a little sadly.  "No, I guess he wouldn't have.  But he 
*does* like you.  A lot."

"He sure has a funny way of showing it," muttered Akane.

Ukyou scowled.  "You really have no room to talk there, you know.  
You don't treat Ran-chan very well either."

Akane's voice was tight.  "Just what do you mean by that?"

"Well, you're always fighting with him.  You always assume that 
whatever is going on is *his* fault, even if it isn't.  You never give 
him a chance to explain, and you don't listen to him when he tries..."

"But..." began Akane, but Ukyou wasn't finished.

"Look, I know he can be difficult, but you never give him a chance, 
do you?  On those occasions when he *is* nice to you, you treat him 
like he's sick, or lost his mind.  You say you never want him around 
but you get mad at him when he spends time with anyone else.  
You're always telling him to go off and die..."

Akane paled. "Are you quite finished?" she growled.

"You *did* ask."

Akane took a deep breath, but bit off her angry reply.  Everything 
Ukyou had said was true...  She did have a tendency to assume the 
worst where Ranma was involved.  Maybe she should have given 
him the benefit of the doubt; been more patient.  Maybe.  "Yes, but... 
he... he can just be so irritating at times..."  she answered lamely.

Ukyou's expression softened slightly.  "I know he can...  Akane-chan; 
it's my turn to ask you a question."  She paused.  "Why are you 
here?"

Akane stiffened.  "What do you mean?"

"Do you love Ran-chan?"

Akane started to reply automatically in the negative, but thought 
better of it.  "I... I... I don't know," she admitted miserably.  She 
slumped in her chair and looked over at Ranma's bed forlornly.  She 
tried to imagine what her life would be like without Ranma, but the 
image repelled her - it was cold and dark and lonely.  She shivered.  
"I just can't imagine not having him around anymore..."

"That sounds like a 'yes' to me," said Ukyou.

Akane's temper flared, but burnt itself out almost immediately.  "I 
guess... I guess maybe it is..."

"That's good.  I would hate to see Ran-chan marry someone who 
didn't love him."

Akane looked at Ukyou in surprise.  "Nanda?!  Giving up?  You?!" she 
stammered.

"Certainly Not!" said Ukyou.  "I'll fight to my last breath for Ran-chan 
- As long as he is happy, I win.  And I sstill think that I'm the one 
that can make him the happiest."

Akane didn't know whether to be relieved, or disappointed.  She 
looked over at Ranma's bed once more and sighed.  "We'll see..." she 
whispered.  "We'll see..."

***  ###  ***

Ranma-chan had almost reached the next ledge.  This leg of the climb 
may have been shorter than the first one, but it sure hadn't been any 
easier.  The rock that made up the cliff face was worse than shale - it 
tended to break under the slightest pressure or strain.  It was like 
trying to climb a ladder where the rungs had all but rotted out.  It 
made progress difficult at best.  At least this time she hadn't fallen.  
Yet.

Just now, she was stretching her sensitivity to the limit, in an effort 
to avoid the near disasters that had almost claimed her on the first 
climb.  Each new handhold was carefully scrutinized before she 
trusted it with her weight - she was *not* going to fall again if there 
was any way to avoid it.  She shuddered at the memory - the 
sickening instant of weightlessness as a handhold broke and gravity 
took hold, the moment of free fall, and the bone jarring impact on the 
ledge below.

She was also increasingly certain that she was going in the right 
direction.  It was vitally important that she reach the top of the cliff.  
She had no idea how she knew this, or why it was so, but she was 
very sure of it.  It didn't make a whole lot of sense, but Ranma-chan 
was used to trusting her instincts.

Finally, Ranma-chan dragged herself over the lip of the next ledge, 
and lay for several moments, the only sounds being the pounding of 
her heart, and the rasp of her laboured breathing.  As she got her 
wind back, even these sounds faded into the stillness.

The first attack came as Ranma-chan got to her feet to begin the next 
leg of her climb.  As she reached for the first handhold, several small, 
hard objects struck the rock near her hand, sending sharp chips 
flying.  Ranma-chan turned to face her attacker, dropping effortlessly 
into combat readiness.

At first, she could see no one, but a moment later, Ryouga dropped 
onto the ledge in front of her, readying another attack.  Ranma-chan 
was so surprised, she almost didn't evade as Ryouga rushed her, 
screaming in soundless rage.  Ranma-chan did manage to dodge the 
attack, but just barely.  She turned once more to face her nemesis.

Ranma-chan was of two minds.  One part of her was glad to find that 
she was not, after all, alone in this place.  The other part of her, the 
largest part, was cursing whatever god thought it would be funny to 
strand her with Ryouga, of all people.  Even if Ryouga knew where 
they were, there was no way that he could find his way out.

Ryouga stood a few meters away, his face twisted in anger, his eyes 
blazing.  Ranma-chan didn't think she had ever seen him this angry 
before, and Ryouga was usually angry.  She wondered what had set 
him off this time.  Once more, Ryouga charged, and Ranma-chan 
evaded by the skin of her teeth.  Ranma-chan didn't mind fighting 
Ryouga, but she usually liked to know what she was fighting about.  
Here, there were just too many unknowns.

"Yo!  Ryouga!  What do you think you're doing?" she called.

Ryouga said nothing.  He just glared at her and continued to circle, 
probing her defenses for a weakness he could exploit.

Ranma-chan tried another approach.  "Ryouga!  Where are we, 
anyway?  How did you get here?"

Still Ryouga was silent.  He acted like he hadn't even heard her.

Now Ranma-chan was getting mad as well.  "All right.  If that's the 
way you want it!"  She charged.  Ryouga sidestepped her attack and 
tripped her, sending her crashing into the cliff face.  Ranma-chan 
dropped and rolled, narrowly evading Ryouga's follow up attack, and 
got slowly to her feet.  Again, she moved to attack.

As before, when she reached for him, he was not there.  It was like 
trying to grasp at quicksilver - he seemed to flow just out of her 
reach before countering with a blow of his own.  Ranma-chan wiped 
the sweat out of her eyes and glared at her opponent.  She had never 
seen him move this gracefully before; never seen him this good.  
 she 
thought to herself darkly.  Still, she wondered what had made him so 
angry...

The more Ranma-chan attacked, and the madder she got, the more 
easily Ryouga evaded her attacks.  He had not yet managed to land a 
blow on her, but she was taking a beating from all of her own near 
misses.  She was getting tired as well.

She looked hard at Ryouga.  He wasn't even breathing hard - and 
there was not so much as a scratch on him.  Ranma-chan felt the 
anger welling up in her again, as she prepared to attack, but before 
she could, a thought struck her.  All the damage that she had taken 
so far, she had done to herself.  Ryouga had never really touched her.  
She was getting angry, and her anger was making her careless.  With 
an effort, Ranma-chan managed to control her urge to tear Ryouga's 
head off and instead dropped into a defensive crouch.   she thought.

Ryouga circled warily, once more on the offensive, looking for an 
opening.  Ranma-chan smiled to herself.  That was it - she couldn't 
let her anger get the best of her.  Finally, Ryouga made his move, but 
this time, Ranma-chan was ready.  As he charged, she dropped onto 
her back and brought her legs up into Ryouga's chest, launching him 
into the air, and sending him flying.  Too late, she realized that his 
trajectory would carry him over the edge and into empty space.  She 
lunged and tried to grab for Ryouga, but there was nothing she could 
do.  She almost fell herself.  "Ryouga!" she cried.

But Ryouga did not fall.  As he sailed out over the void, he simply... 
dissolved.  He vanished as if he had never been, leaving Ranma-chan 
staring after him with her jaw hanging open.  "Ryouga..." she said 
again.

Ranma-chan fell to her knees, exhausted and confused.  She stared 
out into the emptiness for a long moment.  Turning her eyes 
upwards, towards whatever gods might be listening, she cried, "What 
*IS* this place?!"

***  ###  ***

Akane and Ukyou were sitting in Ranma's room conversing quietly.  
There had been no change in Ranma's condition, but the Doctors had 
assured them, not to sound cliche, that while there was life there was 
hope, and that no news was good news.  The attitude of the staff at 
the Medical Centre was one of guarded optimism, and Akane and 
Ukyou both took some small measure of comfort from that.

There was a knock at the door, and Akane got up to answer it.  As 
she opened the door, a voice could be heard asking, "Pardon me, but 
could you direct me to...  Akane-san?!  At last, I've found the right 
place!"

"Ryouga!  Hi!" said Akane.  "Please, come in.  It's so nice of you to 
come to visit Ranma."

Ryouga entered and Akane closed the door.  "Actually,  I... I didn't 
come to visit Ranma," Ryouga stammered.  "I... I... I came to see if 
*you* were all right..."

Akane blushed.  "I'm fine, thanks.  I'm just worried about him."  She 
turned sadly towards the bed.

Ryouga turned to study the bed's occupant.  He'd never seen Ranma 
this badly torn up before - not in all of the years that they had been 
rivals.  Five years?  Six?  Ryouga couldn't even remember.  "He looks 
bad," he said quietly.

Akane nodded miserably.  "He almost died already.  There's a good 
chance that he still might."

"That would be... unfortunate." Ryouga agreed somberly.

Akane reached out, intending to comfort her iinazuke's friend.

"I wanted to be the one to kill him."

Akane froze.  She couldn't believe her ears.  "What?  You... you can't 
really mean that!"

"Hmm?"  Ryouga seemed distracted for a second.  "Sure I can.  Why 
wouldn't I?"

"But... he's your friend!  I don't see how you can stand there and tell 
me that you would actually want to kill him!"

That startled Ryouga - Ranma was his friend?  It was news to him.  
  His expression darkened once more.  "You wouldn't 
understand.  And he's NOT my friend."

Akane's temper flared.  "You're right.  I *don't* understand it.  I've 
never understood it.  I just know that I don't like it.  What is it 
between you two?  Why would you hate Ranma so much?  And why 
will neither of you ever tell me what it's all about?"

Ryouga tensed, exasperated.  "Ranma is the demon responsible for all 
of my suffering!"

"Suffering?"  Akane was incredulous.  "What suffering?  Just what 
did he *do* to you that would make you want to kill him?"

Ryouga started to answer, and then realized that he could not - not 
without revealing to Akane the identity of her beloved P-chan.  
"Nothing," he said, a little sullenly.

"That doesn't make any sense," Akane said.  "If he didn't do anything, 
why are you two fighting all of the time?"

"He ran out on a fight.  If he had been there, I would not have... I 
would not have been through hell!"  Ryouga was getting angry.

"He was there for your stupid fight.  He waited for you for THREE 
DAYS.  What more did you want?" asked Akane indignantly.

"I wanted him there on the fourth day!  Why are you defending him?  
I thought you hated him too!  Aren't you always crying yourself to 
sleep because of the way he hurts you?"

Akane was shocked.  "No!  I don't hate him!  I lo..."  No... she wasn't 
quite ready to make that admission yet - not publicly.  "What would 
*you* know about what I do when I go to sleep anyway?"

Ryouga realized that he'd said a little too much so he ignored Akane's 
question in favour of asking one of his own. "How can you not hate 
him?  All he does is torment you.  Would he do that if he loved you?"

Akane flinched.   she thought.  But Ukyou's words 
came back to reassure her... <"...I suppose it's because Ran-chan 
cares about you so much... - ...he *does* like you.  A lot...">  She 
looked at Ryouga.  "He might," she said simply.  She tried another 
tack.  "How can you be so pig headed?!"  Another piece of a memory 
came back to her.  "Ranma doesn't hate you, you know."

Ryouga blanched at the term 'pig headed'. "Who... who told you that?"

"Any fool could see it the first day you came to Furinkan looking for 
him," Akane replied testily.  "Ranma wasn't even angry at you.  Good 
grief, he didn't even remember your name!  He just wanted to be 
friends.  You're the one who can't seem to handle that!  If it was you 
that was sick, Ranma would be hoping that you got well."

"Ranma's an idiot.  You've said it yourself countless times."  Ryouga 
knew that he kept saying the wrong things, but he just couldn't stop 
himself.

Akane smiled coldly.  "Yes, Ranma can be an idiot.  But he's not a 
malicious idiot.  You know, I used to think that it was Ranma picking 
on you all this time.  I'm beginning to see how that might have been 
a mistake."

Ryouga clenched his fists in frustration.  "How can I make you see 
what a coward Saotome Ranma really is!?" he cried.

Akane's slap caught Ryouga hard across the face.  "Ranma is NOT a 
coward!  NEVER say that again!" she said, her tone icy.  "I really think 
you ought to leave."

Ryouga held the side of his face, his eyes wide in shocked surprise.  
"But... but Akane-san..."

"Good BYE, Ryouga.  Don't come back until you can grow up!"  Akane 
escorted Ryouga firmly through the door, and closed it tightly behind 
him.  When she heard the click of the latch, she leaned against the 
door and sighed.  "Kuso!" she said.

Ukyou had watched the whole exchange in silence.  "I thought you 
handled that rather well," she said.  "You should try that rational 
approach more often with Ran-chan.  He might even listen to it."

Akane scowled for a moment at the implied rebuke, and sighed.  
Ukyou was right, after all.  "I just don't get it," she said.  "I always 
thought that Ryouga was such a nice guy."

"There are probably a lot of things about him that you don't know," 
said Ukyou wisely.

***  ###  ***

Ranma-chan was almost halfway to the next ledge.  She was having 
to be extra careful in testing her handholds - she was still jittery 
from Ryouga's attack.   she thought.  
The whole thing had been so weird.

It lent some hope to the theory that this might be some sort of bad 
dream, but not much.  It was just too intense.  Barring alien 
abduction or being dead left few options.  The most reasonable 
theory that Ranma-chan could come up with was that she was 
delirious.  Not hallucinating exactly, but trapped in a landscape that 
existed only in her mind.  Ranma-chan looked around again at her 
desolate surroundings.   she thought to herself.

The only problem with that theory was that it created as many 
problems as it solved.  For example, why on Earth would she dream 
up a place like this in the first place?   she 
thought.  

Ranma-chan felt one of her handholds start to shift and hastily 
transferred her grip to an alternate.   she thought to 
herself angrily,   With a low growl Ranma-chan 
resumed her climb.  For all intents and purposes she had determined 
her location.   she thought as she glanced downward, 


***  ###  ***

It was dark in Ranma's room at the Medical Centre.  Ukyou had gone 
to get provisions, and Akane was napping fitfully in one of the chairs.  
Akane did not look like she had been sleeping well, or often - her 
hair was mussed, and there were dark circles under her eyes.  Even 
now she was tossing uneasily, caught in the throes of a nightmare.  
"Ranma..."  she mumbled, "no baka..."

Akane was in the dojo, venting her frustrations on innocent cinder 
blocks.  The play had been a disaster.  It was true that they had won 
the competition, and the prize of "getting to see China", but 'Romeo 
and Juliet' was supposed to have been a tragedy, not a comedy!

It was all Ranma's fault, thought Akane.  If he hadn't been so 
wrapped up in getting back to China and that damned training 
ground, her first chance to play Juliet would not have been ruined.

Instead, the entire production had dissolved into chaos.  Between 
Ranma, Kunou, Gosunkugi and Happousai of all people, there had 
been *four* Romeos - rather more than the script had called for.  If 
that hadn't been bad enough, Ranma had taken her part as Juliet 
opposite Kunou!  The selfish jerk hadn't cared how important this 
had been to her - all he had been interested in was seeing China.

Akane smiled to herself.  That, at least, had been a touch of poetic 
justice.  Ranma had not been happy when he had learned that 'seeing 
China' had referred to an actor, not a trip to the mainland.  "Serves 
him right," Akane muttered to herself.

"What serves who right?" asked Ranma as he walked into the dojo.

Akane's temper flared.  "It serves *you* right, baka!  How could you 
*do* that to me?  Don't you know how much that part meant to me?  
Didn't you care at all?"

"Hey, what'd *I* do?  We won, didn't we? - Not that it did any good," 
he added darkly.

"That's not the point!  'Romeo and Juliet' is supposed to be a love 
story, not an episode of Urusei Yatsura!"

"I thought Urusei Yatsura *was* a love story!"

"We're talking about Shakespearean tragedy, for God's sake!  NOT 
slapstick comedy!"

"Huh!  In that case it's too bad we didn't do 'Taming of the Shrew!' - 
Now *there's* a part that was written for you!"  Ranma retorted.

"BAKA!" roared Akane.

"Kawaikunee!"

"Pervert!"

"That's *Per-VECT*!"

Akane was livid.  How could he be such a total jerk?  She pulled back 
her fist, ready to knock him into the middle of the next week.  "Die, 
Ranma!" she yelled.

Before she could move to strike, Ranma looked at her and said, "Okay 
- if that's what you want," and with thatt, his eyes rolled up, his 
breathing stopped, and Saotome Ranma dropped bonelessly to the 
floor of the dojo.

Akane stood staring, too shocked to even move.  Minutes passed, and 
nothing stirred.  Akane grew angry again.  "Ranma!  Ranma, this is no 
time for sick jokes!"  Ranma didn't move.  "Ranma, stop playing 
around!  I mean it!"  Still there was no sign of life from the crumpled 
body before her.  She approached his still form, and reached out to 
shake him.

"Ranma, cut it out..."  Her voice died in her throat as she touched him.  
He was cold; cold as ice.  A frantic search couldn't find a pulse.  She 
turned him over, and sightless eyes stared up at her.  He was 
absolutely still - no sign of life remained.  Akane screamed.

"Ranma!  No!  I didn't mean it like that!"

She heard Ranma's voice from behind her.  "It's what you said you 
wanted."

Anger flared in Akane - "Ranma, how dare you..."  She turned to face 
her tormentor and her words again died unspoken.  Ranma's body 
was still lying inert in her arms, his head pillowed on her lap.  The 
figure that stood behind her was Ranma, but she could see right 
through him.  The figure looked down at her, a deep sadness visible 
in its eyes.

"But... But..." began Akane, "It was a figure of speech!  An 
expression!"

Ranma's ghost stood over Akane, and his own lifeless body.  "Be 
careful what you wish for, Akane..."  The figure started to fade away.  
"Good-bye..."

"Ranma!" Akane cried, "Don't leave me!  Not like this!"

The fading ghost's voice was no more than a whisper.  "I loved you, 
you know..." and then it was gone.  A chill wind blew across Akane, 
and she was alone.

"Ranma!  NOOOoooo!"  Akane sobbed.  "Nooooo..."

Akane woke with a start, her breath coming in short gasps, her pulse 
thundering in her ears.  She was surprised for a moment to find 
herself in a chair in an unfamiliar room.  "Ranma..."  She looked down 
at Ranma's still form in its hospital bed, and was relieved to see that 
he was still breathing.

"Ranma...  Thank god, it was only a dream.  Please, Ranma, don't die.  
You can't leave me that way..."

Footsteps sounded in the corridor, and stopped outside the door.  The 
door opened and Ukyou walked in carrying a number of small bags 
from a local restaurant.  She froze when she saw the expression on 
Akane's face.

"Omygod," she cried.  "What happened?  Ran-chan!"  She rushed 
forward, her armload of parcels forgotten.

Akane looked up at Ukyou, tears still streaming down her face.  "It... 
It's okay, Ukyou...  I... I just had a really bad dream, that's all."

Ukyou looked at Akane, and then at the monitors on the console 
behind Ranma's bed.  She was relieved to see them chirping quietly 
to themselves, and the quiet, albeit painfully slow, rise and fall of 
Ranma's chest.  She sat down heavily.  "God, you scared me," she said.

Akane just looked miserable.  Remembering where she had been, 
Ukyou passed one of the nearly forgotten parcels to Akane.

"Here, Akane.  You really should try to eat something."

Akane took the bag, and smiled wanly at Ukyou.  "Thanks," she said.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Ukyou.

***  ###  ***

Ranma-chan hauled herself painfully onto the next ledge.  This one 
was narrower than the others had been, topping out at about two 
meters.

There was a large boulder a little ways down the ledge, that left a 
narrow passage between it and the cliff face.  In the shadow of the 
boulder there was what looked like the entrance to a shallow cave.  
Ranma-chan headed for the boulder - the cave seemed like it would 
be worth a closer look.

As it happened, the cave was something of a disappointment.  It was 
little more than a hollow in the cliff face, no more than two and a 
half meters deep.  As Ranma-chan turned to leave the cave, a 
shadow blocked the entrance.

Ranma-chan fell back into a defensive crouch as she looked toward 
the cave mouth.  A figure stood silhouetted against the entrance, tall 
and imposing.  From the stance and the bokken it held, she assumed 
that it could only be Kunou.  She groaned to herself.

Ranma-chan started to stalk out of the cave, but Kunou blocked her 
way with his bokken.  She stepped back and moved to go around the 
other way.  Again, she was blocked.  She glared at him.

Kunou smiled and lifted the tip of his bokken to Ranma-chan's chin.  
She stared back at him defiantly.  Like Ryouga on the ledge before, 
he was absolutely silent -  
she thought to herself.  

Once more she tried to move around him, and as he moved to block 
her passage, her leg shot out in a sharp kick.  Kunou's smile widened 
as he parried the kick with the flat of his sword.

Ranma-chan fell back into her defensive crouch as she considered 
her options.  This was not a good place to be trying to fight.  Her 
movements were too restricted in the cave - she had very little room 
to manoeuvre.  Kunou would be limited too, but with his bokken, he 
had the advantage of reach.  He also had her pinned in this stupid 
cave.

Kunou launched into an attack, his bokken stabbing in almost too fast 
to see.  Ranma-chan was hard pressed to evade, having so little room 
to move.  Normally, she would just have kicked him into low Earth 
orbit as he was pontificating, but a silent Kunou was actually proving 
to be a bit more of a challenge.

The force of Kunou's strikes was also having an unfortunate effect on 
the cave.  Rocks were beginning to fall from the walls and roof of the 
cave, which were already brittle, and as the debris accumulated on 
the floor of the alcove, it was making it more difficult for Ranma-
chan to move.  Finally, she hit a stone wrong, and went down on her 
side.  Kunou moved in for the kill.

 thought Ranma-chan, as she noticed the hate and fury 
in her attacker's expression.    As Kunou rushed forward, Ranma-chan rolled toward 
him, under his blade.  She slammed into his shins, and he came down 
on top of her.  The trouble was, so did most of the roof of the cave.

When the dust cleared, there was a bigger hole in the cliff face, 
largely clogged with a pile of rock and debris.  The silence was 
deafening, and the stillness absolute.  After a time, something 
shifted, and a rock rolled down the side of the pile to the ledge.  
After another moment of stillness, a second rock joined the first, 
followed by an increasing number of its companions as the whole 
pile started to swell upward.

A battered and bruised Ranma-chan burst out of the pile, tossing 
Kunou's still form aside as she gasped for breath.  She hauled herself 
shakily to her feet and dusted herself off.   she thought 
as she surveyed the cliff face,   The cliff had 
sustained considerable damage from the rockfall.  Cracks spidered 
the rock, and all the potential handholds that Ranma-chan could see 
looked loose or weak.

Kunou was beginning to stir.  Ranma-chan spared him a withering 
look.  "Are you happy now, you moron?" she asked testily.  "How the 
hell am I supposed to make the next ledge now?"

Kunou did not answer, but she hadn't really expected him to.  Neither 
did she expect him to jump up and attack her again, but he *did* do 
that.  Once more, Ranma-chan found herself dodging a flurry of 
blows, but this time, she had room to manoeuvre - and room to fight 
back.

Ranma-chan was running out of patience - not that she ever had that 
much to begin with; and Kunou's continued silence was beginning to 
unnerve her.  "Won't you give it a *rest*?" she called out to him.  "I 
always *told* you that I could never go out with you!  You can't 
blame me if you're too dense to listen!"

Kunou's only reply was to increase the savagery of his attack.  
Ranma-chan ducked up under his outstretched arms and cut loose 
with a flurry of punches of her own.  Faster than the eye could 
follow, she punched him repeatedly until he dropped to his knees.  
Hopping lightly over her stunned opponent, she grabbed his collar 
and tossed him away from her once more.

Kunou landed badly, bouncing once and sliding toward the edge.  
 thought Ranma-chan.  She dove for the edge herself, and 
got a firm grip on Kunou's tunic as he slid out into space.  Ranma-
chan just managed to halt her own slide toward oblivion and still 
keep her grip on Kunou.  Her hold on his collar was the only thing 
between Kunou and eternity.

Kunou thanked Ranma-chan for her efforts with a snarl and a thwack 
on the arm with his bokken.  Reflexively, she snatched back her 
injured limb, but in doing so, was forced to relinquish her grip on 
Kunou.

Kunou started to fall, but never finished.  He, like Ryouga again, 
dissolved into nothingness as if he had never existed.  Perhaps he 
hadn't.  Ranma-chan wasn't certain of anything anymore - except 
that she was very tired, and very sore, and not at all sure that she 
had the will or the energy to continue.  She just really didn't see 
where she had a choice.

After taking a moment to try and catch her breath, Ranma-chan 
picked the most stable hand holds that she could find and once more 
started the agonizing climb toward the top of the cliff.

***  ###  ***

The Nekohanten was unusually quiet.  A somber air hung over the 
little restaurant like a pall on a casket.  Cologne was in the kitchen, 
Mousse was bussing tables, and Shampoo was taking orders and 
watching the register.  They conversed little, or not at all.

Shampoo went about her work listlessly; with none of her usual 
bounce or enthusiasm.  She was polite to the customers, taking their 
orders, and bringing their food as efficiently as ever, but her smile 
never reached her eyes.  To anyone that knew her, it was obvious 
that she was in pain.

Mousse too, worked more quietly than usual, often stealing glances at 
Shampoo as she walked past.  It broke his heart to see her this way - 
so desperately unhappy - and to know that there was nothing he 
could do about it.

He had tried to comfort her on the night they had found out about 
Ranma's accident, but she had been inconsolable.  He hadn't heard 
her laugh or seen her really smile since then.  She wasn't eating, she 
spoke only when someone spoke to her, and she spent most of her 
off time in her room crying softly.  She hadn't even insulted him 
lately.

The only times she seemed to regain a spark of her former energy 
were those times that she caught sight of a delivery truck, and that 
had been hard on the delivery trucks.  As word spread, it was 
becoming increasingly difficult to get anything trucked into Nerima.  
The drivers and the insurance companies were simply unwilling to 
risk it.

Mousse watched Shampoo for another moment before turning back 
to his own work with a long sigh.  Even losing her to Ranma would be 
better than this.  Not for the first time, Mousse wondered what 
power Saotome had that inspired such devotion.

***  ###  ***

At one of the more secluded tables in the Nekohanten, Happousai sat 
staring morosely into his ramen.  He had hardly touched his food.

After he had fled from Akane, he had come here in search of a meal 
and maybe a chance to grope Shampoo.  That hadn't worked either - 
Shampoo had deflected his approach without even seeming to notice 
him.  It was then that Cologne had told him about Ranma.  At least 
now he understood why Akane had been so upset.

He found the potential loss of his best student to be a sobering 
thought.  If Ranma died, there would be no more Ranma-chan, either.  
While he knew a great deal of magic, none of his spells were the type 
that could help Ranma now.  He was not used to feeling helpless, and 
he had just about decided that he didn't like it.  He didn't like it one 
bit.

***  ###  ***

Ranma-chan was nervous.  The last two ledges had been booby 
trapped, and with real boobs no less.  She didn't know where they 
were coming from or why they were attacking her, but instinct told 
her that the worst was yet to come.  She strained her senses to the 
limit, but they told her nothing.  The effort was beginning to wear on 
her.  She was about ready to begin the next part of her ascent, but 
was reluctant to leave the relative safety of the ledge until she was 
sure that there were no more nasty surprises waiting for her.

As it happened, her caution served her well.  A flicker caught her 
eye, and she whirled to face the new threat, whoever (or whatever) 
it might turn out to be.  She put her back against the rock face and 
scanned the area for more signs of movement.  Something flashed 
and Ranma-chan ducked.  A mace attached to a chain impacted the 
rock wall where her head had been and bounced to the ground.  Her 
gaze followed the chain back to its source, and she groaned softly.  It 
was Mousse.

Ranma-chan felt sorry for Mousse - even if the boy had no dignity 
left, it was impossible not to admire his persistence.  There was no 
questioning his devotion to Shampoo, but Ranma-chan could not help 
feeling a bit put upon.  She could understand fighting for something 
or someone that was important to her, but it seemed to her that 
Mousse carried things too far.  After all, she had never intended to 
"take away" his beloved Shampoo - she had never intended to get 
involved with her at all.  It just didn't seem fair somehow.  People 
were always trying to kill her for things that just weren't her fault.  
It was enough to give anyone a persecution complex.  Ranma-chan 
was beginning to despair of ever getting her life straightened out.

Ranma-chan returned her attention to her attacker.  This Mousse, or 
whatever he was, had eyesight no better than that of his real-world 
counterpart.  He was still dangerous, to be sure, but he was only a 
real threat when he remembered to wear his glasses.  Idly Ranma-
chan wondered why Mousse never looked into contact lenses.

Mousse swung around to attack again.  While she knew that he could 
not see her as more than a blur, she was acutely aware of every 
sound she made.  Mousse was homing his attacks on her that way, 
and he was darned good at it.  Mousse's own movements made no 
sound whatever.  She dove for the cliff face as another barrage of 
weapons whirled through the space she had occupied only fractions 
of a second before.  Where on earth did he keep all of those things?

Ranma considered her options.  Close quarters combat was ill advised 
- in her present form, Mousse had the advvantages of reach and sheer 
power.  Besides, all the weaponry he was tossing around would have 
made it difficult to get that close.  By the same token, she really 
couldn't take him at a distance, either.  She had no weapons capable 
of reaching him, while he seemed to have a limitless arsenal.  The 
situation appeared hopeless - sooner or later she would get tired, or 
slip, and he would finish her.

Mousse paused for a moment to recover some of his weapons - they 
were still connected to him by lengths of chain.  Ranma-chan noted 
that there were a hell of a lot of chains hanging out of his sleeves.  
 she thought to 
herself.  At last a strategy began to take form in her mind.  All she 
had to do now was keep Mousse attacking as fast as he could.

Ranma-chan did an end run around Mousse's position on the ledge.  
He attacked as she passed, just as she hoped that he might.  She 
swung to the side and prepared to dodge the next wave.  Mousse did 
not disappoint her - barrage after barrage of blades, maces and other 
assorted implements of destruction hurled past her as she tried 
frantically to avoid getting hit.  But this time, there was one critical 
difference.

Instead of keeping her back to the rock face, Ranma-chan was now 
between Mousse and the drop.  It was inherently more dangerous, 
but this way she had one advantage.  Instead of landing on the ledge, 
Mousse's weapons were all sailing out over the edge of the cliff.  As 
more and more weaponry sailed past her, and the number of chains 
hanging out of Mousse's sleeves grew, every bit of that weight was 
now hanging out over the drop.

Even as Ranma-chan watched, Mousse was starting to slide forward 
as the weight of all that accumulated weaponry overcame the force 
of friction.  Mousse did not seem to notice.  He maintained his attack 
with a single mindedness that could only be described as suicidal.  
Ranma-chan vaulted over Mousse as he slid past her position on his 
way toward the edge.  He turned toward her as he passed, his hand 
outstretched.

Without even stopping to think about it, Ranma-chan made a grab 
for Mousse's arm in an effort to halt his slide toward oblivion.  As 
she reached toward him, Mousse rewarded her actions with one last 
attack - the mace caught Ranma-chan hard on the shoulder and she 
went down.  As she fell, she saw Mousse go over the edge.  To the 
last second he looked as if he were trying to attack - his own fate 
had been of no importance.  Ranma-chan shuddered.

When she managed to stand up again, she approached the edge 
cautiously, and peered over.  There was no trace of Mousse - she was 
alone again.

Ranma-chan backed up until she was leaning against the rock face 
once more, as far away from the edge as she could get.  She slid 
down to sit on the ledge, exhausted.  Nothing made any sense any 
more.  If she was indeed in a world of her own creation, who was 
trying to keep her from reaching the top of the cliff?  Why were all 
of these people attacking her, where were they coming from, and 
where were they going?  The whole thing was starting to make her 
head hurt.

After catching her breath, Ranma-chan returned her attention to the 
cliff face before her.  The next ledge wasn't getting any closer by 
itself.  She sighed and once more resumed her climb.

***  ###  ***

It was early morning at the Medical Centre.  Ukyou and Akane had 
just finished breakfast, and were talking quietly when they were 
interrupted by a gentle tap on the door.  Before either of them could 
get up to answer it, the door opened and Shampoo walked into the 
room.  She set her pack and her bonbori on the floor, near the door 
and nodded at the girls before turning her attention to Ranma.

She stared at him for a long time, her expression a peculiar mixture 
of hope, and of dread.  It was as if she were willing him to wake up 
and talk to her, but not daring to believe that it would work.  It 
didn't - continued silence was her only answer.  With a sigh, her 
shoulders sagged, and Shampoo sat heavily on the floor and buried 
her face in her hands.

Shampoo felt a touch on her shoulder.  Blinking back tears, she 
looked up to see Akane leaning over her.  She stiffened defensively 
for a moment, but relaxed after looking into Akane's eyes.  She had 
come prepared to defend her right to be there, but it did not look 
like Akane was inclined to make an issue of it.  That seemed a little 
odd to Shampoo, but she was unwilling to look for trouble under the 
circumstances.  It was a moment before she felt she could trust her 
voice.

"Ranma still no better?"  Akane's expression told her all she needed 
to know.

Akane helped Shampoo up, led her over to one of the chairs and 
eased her into it.  Akane retrieved Shampoo's pack from its place by 
the door and put it in the closet alongside her own and Ukyou's.

Shampoo looked at Akane curiously.  "You no try to make Shampoo 
leave?" she asked.

Akane smiled sadly.  "This isn't the time for us to be fighting, 
Shampoo.  I've already learned that lesson."  She looked at Ukyou 
meaningfully.  "Ranma is going to need all the help and caring he can 
get... from all of us.  Even you."

Shampoo looked relieved.  "Shampoo glad to hear that - not look 
forward to fight right now."

"We have a truce for now," agreed Ukyou.  "I've been wondering 
when you would get here.  To be honest, I thought you'd have been 
here days ago."

Shampoo glared at Ukyou, but there was no heat in it.  "Shampoo 
have... business to take care of."

Ukyou nodded.  She had been listening to the radio from time to 
time, and had heard the reports about attacks on delivery vans in 
the Nerima sector.  It hadn't required any great amount of insight to 
guess who might have been responsible.

In a way, Ukyou had taken some satisfaction from the reports - It 
was not the sort of thing that she would have done herself, but it 
made her feel a little better to know that even if pedestrians had to 
watch out for speeding lorries, the speeding lorries also had to 
beware certain pedestrians.  It had a certain balance - a symmetry to 
it that appealed to her.

"Besides," Shampoo continued, "Great Grandmother say husband no 
need Shampoo's help.  She  no let Shampoo come until today.  
Shampoo no like it, but Great Grandmother very... insistent."

Ukyou and Akane shared a knowing look at that.  They both knew 
well that Cologne was a force to be reckoned with.  Neither of them 
would have been inclined to ignore her instructions either, had they 
been in Shampoo's place.

"What changed her mind?" asked Akane.

Shampoo looked sheepish.  "Is only way she get Shampoo to eat." she 
said.

While Akane helped Shampoo settle in, Ukyou arranged for a third 
chair.  The charge nurse just shook her head and sighed.

***  ###  ***

The Head Nurse shook her head as Ukyou left the desk at the nurse's 
station.  "Another one?" she muttered to herself.  "How does he do it?  
*Why* does he do it?"

Ranma was already a main topic of conversation on the floor.  As 
word spread, whispered conversations among nurses often carried 
remarks about the odd young man ranging from mere incredulity to 
rather graphic speculation.

"*Two* iinazuke?"  "Sure, he's cute and all, but really!"  "That's gonna 
be one wedding I'd like to see..."  "Why do they both stay with him?  
I'd never stand for it..."  "Ranma - Wild Horse... I wonder if that 
means anything..."  "He seems a little young to be that well versed..."  
"You say he's a *martial* artist?  I thought it was *marital* artist..."  
"I wonder if he'd be interested in a third?"

Things had just begun to quiet down and now a third actually had 
shown up.  The Head Nurse sighed.  Three iinazuke!  The rest of the 
staff was going to have a field day with this one.  At least most of her 
staff had the tact not to say anything where any of the young ladies 
could hear it.  From the assortment of weaponry she had seen Ukyou 
and this new one carry, she was quite willing to believe that any 
nurse foolish enough to be overheard would rapidly switch from 
"hospital employee" to "hospital patient".

***  ###  ***

As Ranma-chan hauled herself over the top of the next ledge, she 
was only mildly surprised to find that she was not alone.  The ledge 
was like most of the others, ranging between two and five meters 
wide from the narrowest to the widest points.  About eight meters 
along the ledge, a large figure sat hunched over a campfire, staring 
intently at a kettle of water set over the fire to boil.  It was a giant 
panda.

Ranma-chan got slowly to her feet and dusted herself off.  The panda 
appeared to take no notice of her at all.  Ranma-chan approached 
cautiously.  "Oi, Oyaji!" she said.

Still, the panda ignored her.  Again, Ranma-chan felt herself getting 
angry, but this time, she was not going to let it get the better of her.  
Since her father had elected not to answer her, she decided to take 
matters into her own hands, and stepped forward to reach for the 
kettle.

Before she could get a grip on the handle, the panda dissolved into a 
blur of motion, and with a soundless snarl it swatted her hard into 
the side of the mountain.  As Ranma-chan peeled herself off the rock 
face, she turned to glare at the panda.  Somewhere deep down, a part 
of her wondered when her old man had learned to move so fast.

"Oyaji!"  Ranma-chan said accusingly, "Don't be so selfish!  That kettle 
holds enough water for both of us!"  Again the panda waited until 
she was all but touching the handle of the kettle before it reacted 
with inhuman speed.  Ranma-chan managed to avoid most of the 
blow, but she still took a glancing hit to the side.  The panda acted as 
if she weren't even there as she picked herself up off the ledge.

Ranma-chan elected to change her strategy, just a bit.  More than the 
hot water, she wanted information.  She felt that her father owed her 
that much, at least - at the *very* least.  Besides, being a girl had 
largely been working to her advantage since she had been here.  
Upon reflection, it seemed unwise to tempt fate more than she 
already had.  There would be time for hot water later.  She hoped.

"What'd you do that for?!" she cried indignantly.  "Just what *is* it 
with all of you?!  Where in the *hell* are we?"

Rather that allowing her anger to make her careless, Ranma-chan 
drew strength from it, using it to sharpen her focus.  She advanced 
on the panda until she was standing right in front of him.  "Answer 
me, damn you!"  No response.

"Fine!  Ignore *this* old man!" Ranma-chan popped the panda in the 
nose.  The panda didn't even flinch.

Ranma-chan spun toward the kettle once more, but she made no 
move to take it.  Since she was between the panda and the kettle, she 
had one clean shot.  Her leg lashed out, and the kettle went flying 
into space.  Now maybe she could get her father's attention.

Get his attention she did.  As the kettle cleared the ledge, the panda 
swatted Ranma-chan from behind, knocking her into the coals of the 
campfire.  She screamed in agony as she rolled through the embers.

As Ranma-chan got painfully to her feet, the panda pressed his 
attack.  The panda was faster than he had any right to be.  Ranma-
chan was hard pressed to evade his attacks, and was having trouble 
landing any blows herself.  Even her chestnut fist technique was 
proving to be totally ineffective.

"What are you so mad at me for?" she asked the panda.  "If you 
hadn't been so damned selfish or so damned stubborn..."  She paused 
to duck a paw.  "But no...  it *always* has to be this way, doesn't it?  
Always thinking of yourself, and no one else!"  Ranma-chan managed 
to land a kick on the panda's belly.

A fragment of a memory drifted through Ranma-chan's mind.  It was 
a comment Akane had made during one of their fights.  "Like father, 
like son," she had said.  Ranma-chan could almost imagine that she 
was hearing Akane's voice at that instant.

Ranma-chan faltered as the cold realization hit her.   thought 
Ranma-chan.  Her anger intensified as she turned once more toward 
the panda.  "And I'm turning out just LIKE you!" she shouted as she 
renewed her attack.

"No!  No more!"  The tide of the battle was definitely turning.  As her 
rage burned hotter, Ranma-chan focused on her attacks, and started 
to drive the panda back.  "You're to blame for this!  It's your fault!"  
She grabbed a paw and slammed the panda into the cliff face.  "And 
the *worst* part of it is..." she said as she drove the dazed bear back 
toward the edge, "you're not even *real*!"

With that, Ranma-chan kicked the panda solidly in the chest.  The 
panda staggered back, and over the edge.  This time, Ranma-chan 
just watched.  She was through risking her neck for shadows that 
faded into the aether.

The panda fell.

"Nooooo!" screamed Ranma-chan as she ran forward.  She watched, 
horrified, as the panda struck a boulder on the ledge below, and 
rolled limply over that edge as well.  When the body bounced off of 
the next ledge and into the void, it was human... and badly broken.

Ranma-chan fell to her knees, almost toppling herself.  "Nooo..." she 
cried again, "You're not real...  You *can't* be real..."  She buried her 
face in her hands and sobbed.  Her father.  She had just killed her 
own father.  Hadn't she?

After what seemed like an eternity Ranma-chan stood and shuffled 
back towards the rock face.  She had been so sure that nothing here 
was real - that they were all shadows in her mind.  Now, she was 
sure of only one thing.  If she was going to get any of the answers 
that she needed, she had to get to the top of the cliff.

Ranma-chan sighed to herself and turned once more toward her 
climb.  She was close to total exhaustion, but she was almost there.  
The top was so close, she felt like she could all but reach out and 
touch it.  One more ledge, one more stop, and then the top would be 
hers.

***  ###  ***

In Ranma's room at the Medical Centre, the three girls sat around a 
small table.  Ukyou was wearing a gambler's visor, and had a 
peppermint stick hanging out of her mouth like some caricature of a 
cigarette.  She had a pile of candy drops beside her, and an intense 
expression as she stared at her cards.  To her right sat Akane, who 
was scowling at her own hand.  Akane's pile of candies was 
significantly smaller than Ukyou's.

Shampoo sat to Ukyou's left.  She too was sucking on a candy stick as 
she studied her cards.  In lieu of a hat, she wore a bedpan canted at a 
rakish angle.  Her own pile of 'chips' was by far the largest of the 
three.  It was apparent that she had been winning.

"I'll take one." said Ukyou.  She slid a card face downward across the 
tabletop.  Without a word, Shampoo dealt her another card.

Akane studied her hand.  She'd never been any good at cards, either, 
but at least she was better than Ranma.  Right now, she had three 
deuces, a four and a five.  She opted to try for the full house.  "One," 
she said, discarding the four.

"Dealer take two."  said Shampoo as she dropped two cards in favour 
of two new ones from the top of the deck.

"Three," said Ukyou, dropping a like number of candy drops in the 
center of the table.

Akane picked up the card she'd been dealt and considered her bet.  
A seven.  She could read nothing from either Ukyou or Shampoo.  
After a moment's consideration, she pushed three candies from her 
own diminishing pile towards the center of the table.

Shampoo looked thoughtfully at her cards for a few seconds, and 
dropped three candies into the pot, and added two more.

Ukyou sighed and tossed her cards down.  "Fold."

Akane looked at Shampoo appraisingly.   
she thought.    
Akane pushed two more candies into the pot.  "Call."

Shampoo smirked and laid out her cards, one by one.  "Shampoo have 
two pair."

Akane grinned.   she thought.  

"Pair of red threes," said Shampoo, "and pair of black threes."

Akane's face fell as she dropped her cards onto the table.  She really 
should have known better.  She sighed as she watched Shampoo rake 
in the latest pot, adding it to the enormous pile beside her.  At least 
Akane could console herself with the thought that if Shampoo 
actually *ate* her winnings she would be too fat to chase after 
Ranma anymore.

Shampoo gathered the cards and passed the deck to Akane.  "Mallet 
Girl deal now," she said.

Akane shot her a dark look, but took the cards and shuffled.  She 
held the deck out for Ukyou to cut, and then she started to deal three 
hands.  "Another round of the same," she said, "Jack of Hearts is 
wild."

Ukyou raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing.  She just tossed in 
her ante with the other two.

After sorting her cards, Shampoo dropped two candies onto the 
center of the table.  Ukyou hesitated for a second and matched them.

Akane looked at her cards.  She had the ten, the jack, and the king of 
hearts, the two of diamonds, and the four of clubs.  Possible straight.  
She dropped two candies into the pot, and then two more.

"Akane reckless tonight," said Shampoo, but she matched the bet.  
Ukyou shrugged and added her two candies.

Shampoo dropped two cards face down on the table.  Akane passed 
her new ones.  Ukyou dropped three, and again, Akane passed out 
cards.  After a moments consideration, Akane discarded the two and 
the four and took two cards for herself.

Akane fought hard to keep her expression neutral.  She had picked 
up the queen and the ace of hearts.  Not daring to speak, she looked 
over toward Shampoo.

Shampoo smiled and dropped four candies into the pot.  "Shampoo 
hope husband like candy drops," she said.  "Shampoo have too many 
for just her."

Ukyou and Akane both glowered at the Amazon.  Without a word, 
Ukyou dropped in four to match, and four to raise.

Trying to appear nonchalant, Akane pushed eight candies to the 
middle of the table.  Shampoo cocked and eyebrow at her.  "Akane 
sure she want to do that?  Not have much left to share with Ranma 
when she lose..."

Akane turned bright red, and pushed another fistful of candies into 
the pot.  "Oh, yeah?" she retorted.  "Put your money where your 
mouth is, China Girl."

"Hmph." the Amazon responded as she matched the bet, "If Akane 
was species of fish, she be extinct!"

Ukyou looked at the other girls and quietly folded.

"And just what do you mean by that?" Akane asked tightly.

Shampoo grinned evilly.  "Simple.  Always take bait!"  She dropped 
the cards she was holding.  She had a full house, aces high.  Ukyou 
started laughing.

Akane glared at her.  "And what are *you* laughing at?" she asked 
heatedly.

"Shampoo," chortled Ukyou, "just played a full house when you have 
a royal flush!"

Akane bit off her retort as she looked at her cards.  Numbly, she 
placed them on the surface in front of her.

Ukyou looked at her curiously.  "Akane-chan?  Are you okay?"  Then 
she saw the cards that Akane had played.  Her jaw dropped.

"How...  how did you know?"  Akane managed to ask.

Ukyou replied quietly.  "Actually, I was referring to the way you 
were blushing."

Akane's blush returned with a vengeance as she drew in her 
winnings.

***  ###  ***

Ranma-chan was making her initial survey of what appeared to be 
the last leg of her climb when the final attack came.  As she studied 
the cliff face she felt that familiar itch between her shoulder blades - 
the feeling that she was being watched.  She closed her eyes and 
tried to listen for signs of the watcher's whereabouts, but of course, 
she could hear nothing.  Which of her tormentors had the Gods 
selected to send against her this time?  She turned as the first blow 
was struck, and only just managed to evade it.

As she realized who it was attacking her this time, Ranma-chan froze.  
That proved to be a mistake;  Akane's next blow just about took her 
head off.  Ranma-chan fell back, dazed.  For the first time since her 
arrival in this strange place, she saw stars.

Like those that had attacked before her, Akane was silent; silent and 
full of fury.  Ranma-chan watched in horror as Akane moved 
towards her, eyes cold and hard as diamonds.  At least this time, she 
had enough of her wits about her to dodge the punch.

Akane's attack was ferocious - it took all of Ranma-chan's speed and 
skill to avoid her punches.  Within moments, however, Ranma-chan 
had been backed up against the cliff face - there was nowhere for 
her to go.  As Akane charged forward, she dropped and rolled to the 
right.  Akane turned to pursue, murder in her eyes.

Ranma-chan scuttled backwards trying desperately to avoid letting 
Akane get close enough to do any real damage, but that was not so 
easy to do.  Akane charged and Ranma-chan sideslipped.  The 
manoeuvre was successful, but she was horrified to see that Akane 
had come within centimeters of the drop before managing to halt her 
charge.  Another move like that and Akane too would go sailing off 
into space.

Ranma-chan had been reasonably sure that none of her attackers 
were really the people that they appeared to be, but after what had 
happened on the last ledge, she was taking no chances.  Under no 
circumstances was she willing to risk sending Akane into oblivion.  
She adapted her evasive strategy to try and keep Akane always 
rushing toward the cliff face when she attacked, rather than toward 
the edge.  It was working, but she knew she couldn't keep this up 
forever.  This had to be stopped, and stopped quickly.

"Akane," she cried.  "What are you doing?"  Not surprisingly, she 
received no answer.

"Why?  Why are you so angry?  Won't you at least tell me that?"  
Ranma-chan was still managing to evade Akane's attack, but she was 
tiring rapidly.  She could not stay ahead of Akane for much longer.

"Akane, Please! - I don't want to fight you!"  She dodged as Akane 
lunged toward her.  Akane might have gone over the edge at that 
point, but Ranma-chan managed to grab her arm and swing her back 
toward the side of the mountain.  Ranma-chan lost her balance and 
fell hard, nearly sliding off the ledge herself.  She got slowly to her 
feet as Akane prepared for another attack.  There was no hesitation 
in Akane's manner, and Ranma-chan could see no hope for 
reconciliation in her eyes.

Ranma-chan looked sadly at the girl she might have married.   she thought,   Ranma-chan sighed as she reached a decision.  
She was tired; tired of always fighting with Akane; tired of all the 
anger and the hurt.  There were just some fights that you could 
never win.  She stood up and dusted herself off.  She looked briefly 
at the drop behind her, and then turned to face her attacker.

"I will not fight you." she said simply.  She spread her arms in a 
gesture of surrender.  "If you hate me that much, go ahead.  Finish 
it."  Akane did not appear to notice.  As Akane began her charge, 
Ranma-chan closed her eyes and waited for a final impact, and the 
free fall that would follow.  She shuddered as the image of her 
father's broken body bouncing off the mountainside ran once more 
through her mind.   she thought to 
herself.

The final blow never came.  A full minute passed before Ranma-chan 
could bring herself to open her eyes again.  When she did, she was 
alone.  The phantom Akane had vanished.  "Akane..." she whispered.

The tears in her eyes made things more difficult as Ranma-chan 
began the last leg of her climb, but for once, she didn't even try to 
stop them.

***  ###  ***

It was quiet once more in Ranma's room.  Ukyou was reading another 
one of her novels, Akane was fiddling with her knitting, and actually 
getting it right for a change, and Shampoo was poring over a massive 
tome, busily taking notes.

Akane reached the end of the row that she was working on and set 
her knitting aside.  She thought that she was finally getting the hang 
of it, but she was getting tired, and was not in a mood to press her 
luck.  She sighed and looked over to see what Shampoo was studying.

Akane was sure that she'd read the title incorrectly.  "Modern 
Neurochemistry?" she asked in a surprised voice.

The Amazon looked annoyed.  "Nanda?" she asked testily.

"Gomen ne," said Akane.  "I was just surprised, that's all."

Shampoo put her notes down and closed her book.  "Why surprised?  
Akane no think Shampoo can read?"

"Hey, take it easy," said Ukyou in a calming voice.  "She didn't mean 
anything by it.  What's got you in such a snit?"

Shampoo glared at the two of them, but relented.  "Shampoo sorry.  
Shampoo just tired of people thinking that because she come from 
Amazon village, or her Japanese not so good, that she stupid.  She 
NOT stupid."

"Gomen, Shampoo.  I didn't mean to imply anything..." said Akane.  "I 
just didn't know that you were interested in things besides martial 
arts and cooking."

"And Ranma?"  Shampoo asked innocently.

"She got you with that one, Akane-chan."

"That's just because of that stupid Amazon Law," Akane shot back.

Shampoo bristled.  "Why Akane care?  She no want Ranma.  Say so 
many times!"

Before Akane could reply to that sting, Ukyou jumped in to calm 
things down a bit.  "So if it's not just the law, Shampoo, why *are* 
you interested in Ranma?" she asked.

Shampoo looked hard at Ukyou, but could see no threat in her 
expression.  She looked genuinely curious.  "You really want to 
know?" she asked.

Ukyou and Akane both nodded.

Shampoo looked longingly at the unconscious figure in the bed.  "At 
first, Shampoo just happy to find strong husband.  In Joketsuzoku, 
most skilled warriors have trouble finding husbands."

"It's lonely at the top," quipped Akane.

Shampoo thought about that.  "Is so," she said soberly.  "Can be very 
lonely for best fighter, and no one of her generation better than 
Shampoo.  No one want to spend life alone."

"What about Mousse?" asked Ukyou quietly.

Shampoo snorted.  "Mousse... Mousse is child.  Will always be child.  
Even if Shampoo wanted Mousse, Mousse no can beat Shampoo.  No 
can marry.  Is law."

"But he loves you," said Akane.  "Is the law really that strict?"

"Shampoo no love him.  But law is good law!  Make Amazons strong!  
Because of law, Shampoo find Ranma!  Now Shampoo no have to be 
alone!"

"But what if Ranma can't marry you?" asked Akane.  "He does have..." 
she looked at Ukyou, "...other obligations."

"Ranma *must* marry Shampoo.  If not, Shampoo can never go back 
to village.  Can never go home."

Akane and Ukyou exchanged glances.  "But why Ranma?  What if 
someone else were to beat you in combat?"

"Shampoo no want anyone else."  She paused.  "Ranma...  Ranma have 
everything Shampoo want in husband.  He strong, brave, have good 
heart.  He even stand up to great grandmother.  He be father of many 
strong children."

Akane sighed.  "If Ranma...  No, *when* Ranma gets better, he may 
not agree with you.  There are other choices he could make."

"Shampoo just have to make sure that she *best* choice, then, ne?"

Akane looked like she wanted to argue the point, but Ukyou spoke 
up, tempted as she was to let the other two kill each other.  "We can 
all fight over him later, if you want.  But *not* here." she said softly.  
"For now, he needs us - all of us - to be there for him.  After all, if he 
dies, then none of this matters."

The tension that had been building between Akane and Shampoo 
melted away with that warning.  Ukyou was right; there would be 
time for fighting later.  Right now, they just had to hope that there 
would still be someone to fight over.

***  ###  ***

The world around her, such as it was, was beginning to break apart.  
Ranma-chan first noticed a fuzziness in the distance, as details 
blurred and faded into the void.  Though silent, Ranma-chan could 
almost believe that the landscape was breaking up into large, angry 
swarms of bees, buzzing madly about.  Whatever it was, it did not 
look good, and it was coming closer.

"Oh shit," said Ranma-chan - "Gotta get to the top, NOW."  She looked 
sadly toward the top of the cliff, just sixteen or so meters above her.  
"But I'm so tired...  ...so very tired."  Sighing, she reached for the next 
handhold.

Ranma-chan looked down, towards the bottom of the cliff.  Once 
bottomless, the cliff now disappeared into a roiling grey vortex - 
Ranma-chan almost fell as a chunk of the cliff came away in her 
hand.  The stone fell noiselessly to be swallowed by the vortex.  
 Ranma-chan thought to herself.    To sleep, perchance to 
dream...

"To be, or not to be..."   Ranma-chan thought.

The more Ranma-chan thought about it, the less attractive that 
option sounded.  Never again to see one of Akane's all too rare 
smiles; never again to taste Shampoo's special ramen, or Ucchan's 
okonomiyaki; never again to hear any of them laugh, or cry; never 
again to know the simple pleasure of a good workout...

"To be, I think," said Ranma-chan, as she resumed her climb with 
added intensity.

If she had to be stuck with three iinazuke, she would have to deal 
with that.  As bad as her problems sometimes seemed, they could 
certainly be worse.  Even with the curse, she had just about 
everything she truly wanted.  Indeed, her real problem was not what 
she *didn't* have, but that she had too much.  Looking at it that way, 
it seemed silly to complain.

When Ranma-chan had made it up almost eight meters, she looked 
back down the cliff.  She was no further from the all consuming 
vortex - in fact, it looked like the vortex was gaining on her.  Ranma-
chan swallowed hard and redoubled her efforts.  Where there were 
no hand holds, she made them, punching holes in the rock where 
necessary to obtain purchase.  Using the last of her strength, Ranma-
chan fairly shot up the cliff face.

***  ###  ***

In Ranma's room at the Nerima Medical Centre - Ukyou, Shampoo 
and Akane were sitting quietly, maintaining their vigil.  Ukyou was 
reading a copy of "Kinen Hi".  Akane was knitting (trying to knit) 
something, producing a shapeless but relatively tangle-less mass, and 
Shampoo was reading an ancient Chinese alchemical text.  Ukyou was 
the first to notice that the rhythm of Ran-chan's cardiac monitor was 
starting to fluctuate.  She was by Ranma's bedside in a flash, holding 
his hand and slapping the comswitch to summon the nurses.

Akane and Shampoo joined her in short order. The three of them 
were hovering anxiously over Ranma as they waited for the nurses 
to arrive.  Was this it?  The doctors had told them that when a 
change came, that would be the critical time.  Would Ranma live, or 
was this the end?  Each of them wanted very badly for him to get 
better, and an almost tangible expectation filled the air, like a charge 
of static electricity.

The cardiac monitor's rhythm was no longer regular, but seemed to 
come in fits and starts.  Somewhere on the console behind the bed, 
an alarm began to shrill.  Ranma's breathing started to get faster and 
shallower, echoing the increase in pace from the cardiac monitor.  A 
low moan escaped him, and the hand that Ukyou held twitched 
briefly.

On the monitor panel, a number of lights went from green, to amber 
to red.  Ranma took one more deep, shuddering breath, and was still.  
A second alarm rang out as the cardiac monitor stopped registering, 
displaying only a flat line.

***  ###  ***

Time was running out.  Ranma-chan had made it to the top of the 
cliff ahead of the vortex, but not by more than a few minutes.  If she 
didn't get out of here soon, she was lost.  When she clambered over 
the lip of the cliff, she almost fell back again at the sight that greeted 
her.

The landscape that stretched before her now was one that she knew 
well.  She had visited it often enough in her dreams - and in her 
nightmares.  She had even visited it once in person, and on that 
fateful day, her entire world had been ripped inside out.

The plateau was covered with small ponds, hundreds of them, 
stretching as far as the eye could see.  Bamboo poles rose seemingly 
at random from the ponds, and the ground in between.  To one side, 
she could see the remains of a thatch hut that had long since fallen to 
the vagaries of time.

Jyusenkyou.

"No..." she said softly.  "Not this... not again..."

Numbly, she advanced to the first of the cursed springs.  Looking into 
the water, she could just see her own reflection.  However, it was 
partially obscured by another reflection, superimposed over her own.  
A duck stared back at her.  Yahzu niichuan.

One by one, Ranma-chan began to check the pools, looking for some 
clue, some inspiration to tell her what she had to do next.  Pool after 
pool showed her a reflection, but none of them gave her any ideas.  
She found the spring of drowned wombat, the spring of drowned 
monkey and the spring of drowned bandicoot.  She even found the 
spring of drowned pig.

Another spring showed her the reflection of a nameless tentacled 
horror that she was sure would be haunting her nightmares for years 
to come.  The sheer, malignant evil that radiated from the spring was 
all but tangible.

She looked into another spring, and jumped back instinctively from 
the reflection staring back at her.  Mao niichuan.  Spring of drowned 
cat.  She was so startled that she came within a hairsbreadth of 
falling into the spring behind her.  When she turned to look into it, 
her father was staring back at her.  Of course, it wasn't really her 
father; it was Shon-mao niichuan, the spring of drowned panda.  Still, 
Ranma-chan could not shake the sense that there was accusation in 
the panda's stare.

A breeze ruffled the sleeves of Ranma-chan's shirt as she stared 
morosely at the panda's image.  There was still no sound, just the 
sense of moving air, and the realization that she was running out of 
time.  Looking up, she saw that the horizon was starting to blur and 
melt, like a water-colour picture left out in the rain.  Before long, this 
world would be gone, and unless she managed to escape, she would 
be gone with it.  But how?

An answer came in a flash of intuition.  She just had to find the right 
pool before it was too late.  Frantically, she renewed her search.  It 
had to be around here somewhere!  She just hoped that it was 
nearby, and not among the pools that were dissolving in the distance, 
even as she watched.

Finally she reached a pool whose reflection stopped her dead in her 
tracks.  The face that stared out of the pool at her was her own.  Not 
the one that she was wearing now, but her *real* face; the face of 
Ranma the boy.  She had found it.  At long last, she had found the 
Nan niichuan, spring of drowned boy.

 Ranma-chan exulted.    Ranma-chan readied 
herself, and, taking a deep breath, leapt into the pool.

Before she hit the surface, she knew that she had made the wrong 
choice.  In a panic, she grabbed for the bamboo pole that rose from 
the waters of the Nan niichuan and swung herself back toward the 
ground.  For a second, she didn't think that she was going to make it, 
but, to her immense relief, she came down on dry ground.  It was 
hard, but dry.

Ranma-chan would have been hard pressed to say exactly how she 
had known that this was the wrong pool.  A wave of sensations had 
washed over her as she dove - a combination of images that her 
mind was still trying to sort out.  There had been a sense of peace, 
and quiet, the likes of which she had never known, and the warm, 
rich scent of freshly dug earth.  But there had been a cold - a bone 
chilling cold that had pierced her to the very core.  Instinct had 
taken over from there.

Ranma-chan got wearily to her feet.  She knew now, or thought she 
did anyway, which pool she had to find.  If it still existed here.  She 
began to search again.

She headed back the way she had come - the one she wanted had 
been near the panda's spring, but there had been so many, and she 
had been in such a hurry, that she could no longer remember where 
it was.  Just as she was beginning to lose hope, inspiration struck.

On a hunch, she stopped and looked around at the fading landscape.  
All around her, the nothingness was advancing, closing in on her 
even as she watched.  Except... no, it was not closing on *her*, but a 
point just over... THERE.  Ranma-chan ran for the center of the safe 
zone as fast as she could.  She had to be right.  There was no more 
time, if she was not.

Ranma-chan stopped at the pool in the centre of a rapidly shrinking 
oasis in the chaos.  Looking into its depths, she was relieved to see 
that it showed her only one reflection.  Her own.  HER own.   she thought to herself.  For the second 
time, Ranma plunged into the Nyan niichuan, spring of drowned girl.

The pain was incredible.  Ranma-chan could feel herself stiffening as 
if paralysed, a searing agony burning its way across her chest as she 
sank, and darkness claimed her.   she thought.    And there was nothing.

***  ###  ***

Ukyou felt helpless - Ranma was dying before her eyes, and she 
could do nothing to stop it.  It wasn't fair!  He had made it through so 
much!  By whatever miracles, he had survived the accident, the 
surgery, ten days in a coma - Dammit, it just couldn't end like this!  
She couldn't lose him again!  Not like this!

Shampoo just stood in shocked silence, staring at Ranma's still form.  
The shrilling of the alarms, the choked sobs from Akane and Ukyou, 
she heard none of them.  With every fiber of her being she prayed to 
whatever gods might be listening; Let Ranma Live.

Akane saw the look in Ukyou's eyes and felt her heart in her throat.  
Ranma was dead.  It didn't seem real.  This couldn't be happening!  
This wasn't the way the story was supposed to end!  Akane did what 
she did best when feeling helpless.  She got angry.  "Damn you, 
Ranma," she sobbed, "If you die now, I'll... I'll... I'll never speak to 
you again!"

Ukyou and Shampoo turned to stare at Akane, who was staring at the 
floor in acute embarrassment.  It wasn't until Ukyou felt Ranma 
squeeze her hand that any of them noticed the cardiac monitor was 
once more reading a pulse.

***  ###  ***

Ranma drifted back into consciousness feeling uncomfortably like a 
pin-cushion.  Attempts to move met with little or no success, and his 
whole body felt like it was under a couple of tons of stone.   he thought to himself.  
Finally, Ranma managed to open his eyes, just a bit.  He was greeted 
with a blur of light, partially masked by the three darker blurs 
hovering over him.  After a moment, he blinked, and the world 
slowly began to come into focus.

The first sounds that he was conscious of hearing were ragged gasps, 
as if someone had been holding their breath for too long.  There were 
voices, but he was having trouble getting a lock on what was being 
said, and he had no idea who was saying it.  As time passed and 
more of his surroundings began to register on his consciousness, the 
voices resolved into recognizable patterns.

Ukyou Voice:  "Ran-chan!  Ran-chan!  Oh, thank god!"

Shampoo Voice:  "Haiyaah!  Shampoo so happy!"

Akane Voice:  "Ranma!"  then more softly, "Ranma... I'm sorry."

Gradually, as his vision cleared, Ranma could make out three very 
worried looking faces staring back down at him.

"Where... where am I...?" he managed at last.  His voice was little 
more than a whisper.

The only answer he got right away was the relieved sobbing of three 
very tired girls, as a week's worth of pent-up emotions broke free.  
Before Ranma could work up to another question, a small army of 
doctors and nurses came in, and moving the girls gently out of the 
way, began to make checks on their newly awakened patient.

***  ###  ***

Ukyou, Akane and Shampoo stood watching anxiously as the phalanx 
of doctors poked and prodded at Ranma, eliciting occasional pained 
squawks and an odd yelp or two.  The doctors were muttering 
quietly among themselves, and issuing instructions to various nurse 
type persons who were standing ready to assist.  None of the girls 
could make out a word of what was being said.  Finally, one of the 
doctors took pity on them and came over to explain what was going 
on.  As he approached, the others gathered their tools and left, with 
the exception of one nurse who was wielding a couple of wicked 
looking hypodermics.

Before the doctor could even open his mouth, he was met with a 
torrent of questions from the anxious girls.  Finally, he held up his 
hands in surrender.  "Please, please..." he said.  "Let me talk, then I'll 
try to answer your questions...  ...one at a time," he added.

Chastened, the girls waited to hear what the doctor had to say.

"First of all," he began, "As you have already noticed, Ranma is out of 
his coma.  Unless there is a drastic change in the next twenty four 
hours or so, I feel safe in saying that he is out of immediate danger."

The relieved sighs that greeted that news made the doctor smile.  
"Furthermore, while we will have to do some tests to be sure, there 
does not appear to be any brain damage or memory loss.  At this 
point, we expect Ranma to make a full recovery just as fast as his 
body can heal itself.  He is a remarkable young man.  Now, are there 
any questions?"

Ukyou was first.  "Sensei," she asked, "We will be allowed to stay 
with him, won't we?"

"I don't see any reason why not.  As long as the patient doesn't 
object."

Akane was next.  "When will Ranma be able to come home?"  she 
asked.

"Well, we will want to keep him under observation for a while, but 
he can probably go by the end of a week or ten days.  Will that be 
soon enough for you?"

"Hai!" answered Akane.  "Arigatou!"

Not to be left out, Shampoo also had a question.  "When you let 
Ranma have real foods again?  Shampoo want make special ramen 
for him!  No can feel better eating hospital food.  Yuck!"

The doctor had to smile again at that.  "He should be on solid food 
again after three or four days.  Talk to me then, and I'll outline his 
dietary restrictions, until he is well, ne?"

"Haiyaah!" said Shampoo.

"One last thing.  Don't be surprised if Ranma sleeps a lot during the 
next few days.  His body has been through a lot, and it will take most 
of his energy to heal.  It's perfectly normal in cases like this.  I'll go 
now, but I'll be back to check on all of you later."

As the doctor left the room, Ukyou, Shampoo and Akane gathered 
around Ranma's bed.  Ranma looked up at them and grinned 
drowsily.  "What happened?  Did we win?  You girls look terrible."

"You don't look so hot yourself, Ran-chan." sniffed Ukyou happily.

Ranma looked at Akane, and his expression sobered.  "Akane," he 
said, "I'm sorry...  I never meant to hurt you..."  Ranma's eyes started 
to close despite his best efforts to keep them open.  He was trying to 
stay awake, but he simply didn't have the energy.  "Never... never 
wanted to hurt... hurt any of you..." and then Ranma fell silent.

"I know, Ranma..." said Akane softly, "We know."

***  ###  ***

Ranma's recovery was incredibly rapid.  The doctors were 
continually amazed at the rate at which his body healed itself.  
Bruises which would have remained on any normal person for weeks 
were already starting to fade.  Surgical scars were changing to 
become little more than angry pink lines.  Swelling and inflammation 
would go down almost fast enough to watch.  All in all, the doctors 
were highly pleased with the results.  One or two of them were even 
muttering things about blood tests, and patentable serums from time 
to time.

When Akane and Ukyou told them some of the things that Ranma 
had been through in the course of his training, they almost wouldn't 
believe them.  One of the doctors expressed the opinion that Ranma 
just could not be human.

***  ###  ***

Once news of Ranma's improving condition got around, the visits 
started.

Genma came by to visit his son with a teary eyed Soun in tow.  For 
some reason that he could no put his finger on, Ranma was intensely 
relieved to see his father.  Soun looked like he might say something 
when he saw that Ukyou and Shampoo were there, but a glare from 
Akane silenced him.  Neither of them would shut up about how 
happy they were to see that the Saotome/Tendou alliance was 
secure.

Dr. Tofu dropped in to see his most regular patient, and to check on 
his progress.  He was quite pleased with Ranma's rate of recovery.  
Fortunately for Ranma, Tofu had already left when Kasumi stopped 
in.

Even Nabiki managed to drop by...  "After all," she said.  "I'd hate to 
lose my primary source of income!  In fact, I'd go so far as to say that 
I couldn't afford it."  She paused and looked briefly at her younger 
sister, working on her knitting.  She lowered her voice.  "I really 
wouldn't want to see anything happen to you, Ranma."

Nabiki's point was made when Kunou came by for a visit.  Ranma 
didn't really feel like dealing with him just yet, but Kunou was 
insistent.  He had a ticket, he claimed, sold to him by Tendou Nabiki.  
He had paid dearly for it, and he meant to use it.  Ranma finally 
decided that the fastest way to get rid of him was to let him in.

Kunou swept into the room with his usual egotistical flair.  Once 
more, Ranma wondered how he got his head through the doors.  
Kunou glared down at his rival for a long moment before speaking.

"So... you will live after all.  Truly, Saotome, the Gods have been 
merciful with you."  Kunou paused for a beat, staring out into space.  
"Akane said that if you were to die, the pig-tailed one would also 
wither..." Ranma looked meaningfully at Akane, who grinned back at 
him.  Ranma scowled.  Kunou looked grave.  "I know not what your 
hold on her might be, Saotome, but know ye this; I Kunou Tatewaki 
vow that it shall be broken!  I shall free her from your evil magic if 
it is the last thing that I do!"

Ranma rolled his eyes.  The idiot still just didn't get it.  After Kunou 
stalked out of the room, he leaned over toward Akane and said, 
"Akane, do me a favour, please?"  Akane nodded expectantly.  "Make 
sure that Nabiki knows that if she sells a ticket to Kodachi... I will 
strangle her."

Akane stuck her tongue out at him, but she was still grinning.

***  ###  ***

Ranma was elated when the Doctor told him that he could have solid 
food again.  Then he remembered where he was, and his enthusiasm 
for the idea waned considerably.  He had never heard anything good 
about hospital food.  He imagined that it might even be almost as bad 
as Akane's cooking, but for once he was smart enough not to say 
anything.

When mealtime came, Ranma was a bit apprehensive, but the nurses 
with dinner trays passed his room without so much as slowing down.  
Ranma was a little confused.  He distinctly remembered the doctor 
saying that he was to have real food today.  He was still pondering 
this anomaly when a cart came trundling into the room, but this one 
was being pushed by Shampoo.  He looked up curiously.

Shampoo smiled and lifted the lid from the first tray on her cart.  
The smell of hot ramen hit Ranma like one of Shampoo's bonbori - 
his mouth began to water and his stomach growled.  Shampoo set the 
tray in front of him with a flourish, handed him a small towel and 
some chopsticks, and stepped back looking rather smug.

Ranma looked at her in amazement.  "You cooked this Shampoo?" he 
asked.

Shampoo nodded.  "Doctor say you no have to eat hospital food.  Eat 
Shampoo food instead.  He say you strong enough for ramen today, 
maybe more tomorrow."

Ranma's effusive thanks were somewhat muffled.  It is difficult to 
speak clearly with your mouth full.  Shampoo just smiled and handed 
the others their food.

***  ###  ***

The next morning was to mark another milestone in Ranma's 
recovery.  For the first time since his mangled body had been rushed 
to the medical centre, Ranma was going to be allowed to stand up 
and try to walk.  Akane had agreed to assist and was lecturing the 
patient ("Now *there's* a misnomer," Ukyou had observed) on what 
the doctors had told her to expect.

"Remember, Ranma," she was saying, "the doctor said that this is 
going to be hard for you at first - you've been through a lot, and 
you've been unconscious for a week - don't expect to jump right up, 
okay?"

Ranma rolled his eyes and looked impatient.  "Can we get on with 
this please, *nurse*?" he asked.

Akane bristled.  "Ranma, you're tough but you're not indestructible, 
you know."

"Feh." said Ranma.  "You spend a couple of weeks in bed and see how 
patient *you* are."  He tossed back the covers and sat up.  A wave of 
dizziness washed over him, but it passed quickly.

"See?" Akane said.  "Please, be careful!"

"Feh." said Ranma again.  He hopped gracefully to his feet and stood 
there smirking at Akane.  The smirk faded rapidly as Ranma went a 
funny grey colour and started to waver.  He flailed once and pitched 
forward - right into Akane's outstretched arms.  She held him until 
he started to regain his balance.

"Baka."  she said gently.

Ranma opened his mouth to issue his stock response, but bit it back.  
There had been a warm tone to Akane's voice that he had quite 
liked.  He looked into her eyes and found himself growing dizzy 
again.  She held him until it passed and he was once more able to 
stand on his own.  His irritation dissolved and he smiled uncertainly.

"Arigatou, Akane..."

Akane grinned at him and took a step back.  "C'mon, now!" she said, 
laughter in her voice.  "No slacking off!"

Ranma grinned back and stepped cautiously to follow.

***  ###  ***

The day he walked again, there was Ucchan's okonomiyaki for 
dinner.  Ranma ate like a man possessed, much to Ukyou's delight.  
There was certainly nothing wrong with Ranma's appetite, and the 
doctors all agreed that this was further evidence that the patient was 
making excellent progress.  The mood had shifted in the past few 
days from apprehensive to celebratory.

***  ###  ***

Ranma was working hard to restore his system to a daily exercise 
regimen, and the harder he pushed himself, the better he felt.  He 
was the only one who was not entirely satisfied with his progress, 
even though it had only been a couple of days between those first 
tentative steps and his current jogging regimen through the hospital 
corridors and his workouts in the exercise rooms.

The evenings were a joy for Ranma.  After a good day's workout, he 
really enjoyed laying back and listening to Ukyou read him one of 
her books, just talking quietly with one or more of the girls, or even 
listening as the girls talked among themselves.

In fact, he had decided that this past week had been one of the most 
pleasant in recent memory.  It amazed him that all three of his 
iinazuke had been together for so long with so little friction.   he thought to 
himself.  

That was not to say that everything had gone smoothly all of the 
time.  At one point there had been an argument between Akane and 
Shampoo that Ranma had been afraid might come to blows.  Ranma 
had groaned loudly and both girls had been instantly at his side, 
their own disagreement forgotten.

Ranma made it a point to enjoy the calm while it lasted.

***  ###  ***

Late in the afternoon on the day before Ranma was scheduled for 
release, a nurse came into the room carrying a tray full of small 
bottles, a bowl and sponge, and a large pitcher of water.  She chased 
the girls out.  There were a few tests that she had instructions to 
perform, she said, and some medications for Ranma to take.  Besides, 
it was time for the patient's bath.  Iinazuke or not, it would not have 
been proper for them to stay in the room.  The girls agreed to wait 
outside, but under mild protest.

As they left the room, Ranma was protesting loudly that he didn't 
need to be tested, he didn't want any medicine, thankyou, that he 
could *certainly* bathe himself, and would she please just leave him 
the hell alone?  They headed to the lounge opposite the nurses' 
station to wait.  Ukyou sat down with her book while Akane resumed 
her knitting.  She was working on a scarf this time, and so far, she 
hadn't had one tangle, or dropped a single stitch.  Shampoo decided 
that she would go back to the Nekohanten and bring back dinner for 
the lot of them.  Ranma's appetite of late had been particularly good.

They had just been waiting for a few moments when a scream 
echoed down the corridor from the direction of Ranma's room.  
Akane and Ukyou looked at each other, and then looked down the 
hall.  As they watched, Ranma's door flew open, and a very pale 
nurse went tearing down the hallway, still screaming at the top of 
her lungs.

Ukyou blinked and leaned over to Akane.  "What do you bet she 
dumped that pitcher on him?" she asked in a stage whisper.  Akane 
could only nod.

Akane trotted off to find some hot water while Ukyou looked in on a 
damp and angry Ranma-chan.  "Looks like things are about back to 
normal!" she said.  Ranma-chan just glared.

***  ###  ***

Finally, the day had come that Ranma would be going home.  He was 
glad to be leaving the Medical Centre, but in a way, he was sad to see 
the week end.  It had been so peaceful.  Ranma was sure that he 
could get used to peace like that.  Still, the price as marked was way 
too high.  There would be no regrets.  He just hoped that he could 
manage to keep his relationships from backsliding into quite so deep 
a mess as they had previously been.  He knew that he was going to 
have to work on being more patient, and more understanding.  If 
that was what it took to make Akane smile more often, then he was 
going to give it a try.

Akane had been to the dojo and returned with some clothes for him 
to wear home.  She had brought slacks and shoes, and one of his 
favourite shirts.  She had been unable to find any of his shorts, so 
she had actually stopped and bought him a pair of new boxers.  It 
had taken all of Ranma's self control to just smile and thank her 
when he had seen them.  Little hearts!  Really!  A guy just didn't 
wear things like that!  Still, it wasn't like anyone was going to see 
them, and it had been a very nice gesture on her part.  And for once, 
he had managed not to spoil it.  Things were definitely looking up.

Ranma lay in his bed and watched as his iinazuke packed their things 
in preparation for their departure.  After they were packed, he 
would dress, and they would all walk back to the dojo together.  
Rumor had it that there was a party planned that evening, and 
Ranma was not sure whether to look forward to it, or to worry that it 
might go nuclear.

Shampoo and Akane finished their packing first, and headed for the 
lounge area across from the nurse's station to wait.  Ukyou finished 
packing the last of her things and flashed Ranma a grin as she too 
headed for the lounge.  Before she got to the door, though, Ranma 
called her back.

"Ucchan, chotto matte, kudasai."

Ukyou set her pack down and sat down on the bed next to Ranma.  
She looked at him curiously, waiting to see what he wanted.

Ranma dropped his voice, and looked furtively about - almost as if 
he were afraid that someone else might hear what he had to say.  Of 
course, he just might have been afraid of that very thing.

"Ucchan, do you remember what we were talking about at your shop 
just before I got hit?  About whether or not I loved Akane?"

Ukyou nodded.  She remembered that particular conversation *very* 
well.

"I've been thinking about that alot over the past few days.  I think... 
I think that maybe I might...  It doesn't make any sense.  She can be 
so... so frustrating at times, but when I see her smile it makes all of 
that go away.  She really is cute when she smiles, you know..."

Ukyou was trying hard to keep a neutral expression.  There was a 
great, hard knot forming in the pit of her stomach.  Her dreams were 
all coming crashing down around her ears, but at the same time, she 
was here now, hearing these... these *terrible* secrets, because 
Ranma *trusted* her.  Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded for 
Ranma to continue.

"Of course," said Ranma jokingly, "If you tell her any of this, I'll deny 
it."

Ukyou managed a wan smile at that.  "Don't worry, Ran-chan... your 
secret is safe with me."

Ranma's expression sobered.  "I know it is, Ucchan.  You always have 
been the friend that I could count on."

Ukyou started to get up.  "I better go join the others, I guess..." she 
began.

Ranma grabbed her wrist before she could really move.  "Please, 
Ucchan...  wait.  There's more that I want... no, more that I *need* to 
say to you."

Ukyou looked mildly uncomfortable, but nodded, and made no 
further move to leave.

Ranma paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts.  "You of 
all people know just how much grief Pop has caused me with this 
whole marriage business..."

Ukyou nodded again.  She did indeed.

"Well, the problem is more complicated than that...  Y'see, I've also 
been thinking a lot about the other question that you asked me... If I 
thought it was *important* that I love the person that I was going to 
marry."

 thought Ukyou.  

"Just suppose for a minute that I *did* love Akane enough to marry 
her... Pop would be happy, Mr. Tendou would be happy, Akane might 
be happy, or she might not.  She would have to love me too, wouldn't 
she?  I mean isn't it just as important that the person I marry loves 
me too?"

"Well, yes... I suppose so..." Ukyou conceded...

"But you see?  I don't know if Akane loves me or not.  Heck, most of 
the time I don't think she even likes me - let alone loves me.  Then if 
I married her, I'd be making her miserable... and I don't want to do 
that..."

Ukyou thought about telling Ranma about the conversations that she 
had held with Akane while he was still in his coma - but decided that 
it was not her place to betray Akane's confidence anymore than she 
would betray Ranma's.  Besides - Akane had been no more definite 
in her feelings than Ranma had.  Best not to meddle.

"On the other hand, there's the matter of honour." Ranma continued.  
"All three of you are each sure that your own claim is the most valid, 
and I don't know who's right!  The Tendou claim is the oldest, so old 
man Tendou is sure that Akane's is the true engagement."

Ranma paused to catch his breath and take a very *careful* sip of 
water.  "Then there's Shampoo... According to the laws of her tribe, 
she and I are already married.  The only thing saving me there is 
that we're in Japan, not China."

Ukyou nodded again, still not trusting herself to speak, or knowing 
what she would say if she did.

"That leaves you, Ucchan."  Ranma paused for a moment, choosing his 
words with care.  "When your dad made that deal with Pop for us to 
marry, he put up his yattai as the dowry... and Pop *took* it.  For 
honour to be satisfied, I *have* to marry you, too!"

 thought Ukyou in a 
detached fashion.

"You see, Ucchan?  Without even considering love, I can't win.  If I 
marry one to satisfy honour, then honour is lost on the other two.  
Love just makes it worse.  I mean I think that I might love Akane, 
but what really, is love?"

"What do you mean?" Love is... well... love."

"Uh huh," said Ranma.  "Now you see.  I've heard all the things that 
love is supposed to be...  You know, if you love someone then you 
want to be near them, you want to protect them, you want them to 
be happy and all of that.  And of course, when they are happy, you're 
supposed to feel good, and if they're hurt, you feel bad."

"So?  That seems pretty straight forward to me." said Ukyou.

"Does it?" asked Ranma.  "Where does friendship end, and love 
begin?  Ucchan, when I was six, you were my best friend.  Back then 
I didn't even know that you were a girl!  But I felt that way about 
you then, and I do now."

Ukyou's head snapped up.  "Na... nani?!"

"Y'see?  No matter who I marry, someone that I care about gets hurt.  
And I don't have any idea what to do about it."  Ranma looked off 
into the distance for a moment.

"What are you saying, Ran-chan?"

Ranma sighed.  "You know, I was talking to the head nurse the other 
day."

The change in topic caught Ukyou off guard.  "You were?"

"Yep.  She told me that when they first brought me in here, you were 
here waiting.  That you've stayed with me the whole time I've been 
here."

Ukyou looked embarrassed.  "Well..."

"I'm not very good at this sort of thing, you know.  I don't talk much 
about how I feel because, well... it's just not something guys do.  
Besides that, a lot of the time I'm not even sure what my feelings 
*are*.  But it meant a lot to me, Ucchan.  It means a lot to know that 
you were here for me - when I needed you most."

"Sometimes, I think that I'm worse than Kunou.  He tears himself 
apart, not being able to choose between Akane and his 'pig-tailed 
girl'...  Am I any different?"

"Well, for one thing, Ran-chan, all of us *want* you.  Can Kunou say 
that?"

"That's supposed to make it easier, is it?"  Ranma smiled sadly and 
squeezed Ukyou's hand.  "If I choose, I hurt people that I care about.  
If I *don't* choose, I hurt people that I care about.  That's a tough 
game to win.  The only safe move right now, is not to play."

"I can wait." said Ukyou.

Ranma looked hard at her.  "For how long?  This is one decision that 
I'm in no hurry to make, for many obvious reasons.  If you girls were 
smart, you'd find someone else.  You'd all be a lot happier."

"I guess that none of us are too bright, ne?"  Ranma winced, but 
Ukyou had been smiling as she said it.

"Someday...  someday I'll *have* to decide.  That day is a long way 
off, I hope, but it *will* come.  When it does..." Ranma glanced 
meaningfully in the direction that Akane and Shampoo had taken a 
few minutes earlier, "When it does, there is likely to be one major 
Dirty Pair event."

He sighed and looked up at Ukyou.  "Ucchan, please.  Try... try to find 
someone else.  Someone that can be fair to you."

Ukyou's expression was unreadable.  "Is that... is that what you really 
want, Ran-chan?" she asked in a small voice.

"What I want," Ranma said gently, "is for you to be happy.  I can't 
promise that I'll be able to give you what you want."

"I'm willing to take my chances."

"Is that your final word?"

Ukyou nodded.

"I was afraid of that.  Now I'm stuck for sure," sighed Ranma.

"Is that really so bad, Ran-chan?"

Ranma gave her a small smile.  "I suppose it could be worse."

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Do?  What *can* I do?  I still don't have any answers.  I still don't 
really know how I feel about Akane or what will happen tomorrow.  
What I *do* know is that you were here for me, and that you always 
have been.  I know that you're my best friend; perhaps the only real 
friend I've ever had."

"No matter what the future holds, no matter who I marry, I just want 
you to know..."  Ranma paused and took a deep breath.  "I just want 
you to know that I...  that I...  that if I were to marry you, I know at 
least that I would be marrying someone I loved.  God help you."

As Ranma fell back onto his pillow, Ukyou let out the breath that she 
didn't realize she had been holding.  A smile as bright as the sun lit 
her face.  At last she knew - knew that Ranma knew how she felt, 
and that he loved her too.  She knew that it didn't mean that they 
would marry, but it was a good start.  After a moment, she sobered a 
bit, and looked down at him.

"You realize, of course, that nothing has changed.  You still have three 
iinazuke.  You still have your curse, and you still have to deal with 
the likes of Kunou and Happousai.  Your life is still a mess.  Once you 
leave this room, it's going to be business as usual."

Ranma smiled back tiredly.  "I know.  Just do me one favour, okay?"

"Name it."

"Don't let Akane see you grinning like that... This is a nice place and 
all, but I have no desire to return any time soon."

Ukyou's smile widened for a moment before she adopted a more 
serious expression.  The smile didn't leave her eyes, though.  She 
hugged him.  "Welcome home, Ran-chan.  Welcome home."

EOF

Thank you for reading!
Please send comments, criticisms, and large dilithium crystals to:

Ayanami@mindspring.com

or Snailmail
c/o Anime*Niacs
244 First Avenue South
Franklin, TN  37064

***  ###  ***

Author's Notes:

This is the first fanfic that Zen actually started, and the first that he 
has actually finished.  The next one is already half done, but there is 
no telling how long it will take.  In fact, there are no fewer than half 
a dozen in process... >_<

Zen hopes that you enjoyed it.  Zen found writing it... entertaining.

A few notes for you continuity cops out there:

The story takes place sometime before volume 36 of the manga, 
where Nodoka finds out about Ranma's curse.  In Zen's fics, Nodoka 
still does not know.

In fact, as far as Zen is concerned, the last four volumes of the manga 
*never happened*.  (Zen has them, Zen enjoyed reading them, but 
then, Zen also has a copy of Star Trek V)

"Ranma-chan" is used in the narrative to refer to Ranma's female 
form.  NO ONE in Zen's fics uses it as a means of addressing Ranma 
except for Happousai.  When another character refers to Ranma, they 
always say Ranma, they always address her as Ranma, Ranma refers 
to herself as Ranma.  Only the narrator uses Ranma-chan.  If you 
catch Zen in an error here, please point it out.  Thanks.

Zen would also like to apologize formally to Shimazu Saeko, the 
Seiyuu that gives Kodachi her ahh... *distinctive* voice.  Zen never 
has been able to pass up a straight line.  (Zen has never been able to 
forget that laugh, either.)

Zen wishes to thank Richard Lawson and Sebastian Weinberg, who 
graciously volunteered to wade through this muck first, and pointed 
out a number of pits that needed to be filled before opening the fic to 
the general public.  They were also responsible for the elimination of 
a few bits that *never* should have seen the light of a computer 
monitor.  It would have been a LOT worse without their help and 
encouragement. ^_^

Zen suggests that you read their fics, if you haven't already.  They 
are both much better writers than Zen.

Richard's can be found at:
http://www.sterman.org/

and Sebastian's can be found at:
http://enterprise.mathematik.uni-essen.de/~bastian/

Please forgive Zen for his pro-Ukyou bias.  Akane fans can console 
themselves with the knowledge that after this story, her chances are 
still pretty good.  She may not fare so well in the next one. ^_^



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