The Mushroom Incident part 3
	The Trouble With Truffles
	~Cindy Toler~


	"Ranma, how about if I go first?" Akane asked as they entered the Tendo yard.

	"Can I have a bath with you?" Ryoga asked innocently.

	"No way!" Ranma said. Akane gave him a pointed glare. "Uh...I mean...you and I 
have to go find some bath toys for you to use, and you'll want to have the tub all to 
yourself." 

	"Ok," Ryoga said cheerfully. Ranma heaved a sigh of relief. It wasn't easy, not 
fighting...but he'd be damned if he'd let Ryoga take a bath with Akane, little boy or not! 

*****

	"Ok, you two, it's your turn," Akane said, stepping out of the bathroom a short 
while later. 

	"I need to have the tub all to myself," Ryoga said, confused.

	"That's Ok, Ryoga, I'll just be real quick then," Ranma said. He ran to his room for 
clean clothes, then dashed back to the bathroom for one of the quickest baths of his life. 
Akane hadn't looked too pleased with the separate-baths solution, and he was worried 
that she might be stewing about it. He stepped out to see Akane and Ryoga waiting in the living room, drawing.

	"Whatcha doing?" he asked, looking over Ryoga's shoulder.

	"I'm making a picture," Ryoga answered. "See? There's me, and you, and Akane. 
And this is Kasumi and Nabiki and Mr. Soun, and here's Mr. Panda!"

	"Hey, that's pretty good!" Ranma lied, looking down at the indistinguishable 
stick figures. "Want me to write everyone's names down for ya?"

	"Ok!" Ryoga grinned up at him. Ranma quickly scrawled the names down, hoping 
he hadn't gotten any of them mixed up. He looked up to see Akane smiling tenderly at him, 
before she schooled her expression into a more neutral one.

	"Uh, let's go get your bath now, Ok?" Ranma asked, blushing a little. Akane's 
smiles were so magical...

	"Yeah! I have a boat!" Ryoga said enthusiastically, pulling a small plastic ship 
out of a pile of bath toys.

	"Do you need any help?" Akane asked, as Ryoga carried the toy off to the bathroom.

	"No!" Ranma said sharply. "I mean...Akane, he's a guy!"

	"He's only a little boy right now, Ranma," Akane said through a forced smile. 
"Just let me know if you need me, Ok?"

	"Ok." Ranma followed the little boy into the bathroom. "Ok, Ryoga, let's get you 
clean," he said. "You're going to have to put the toy down, so we can get your clothes off."

	"No."

	"Ryoga, just put it down here, and you can have it again in just a second."

	"I don't want to," Ryoga said, his jaw setting stubbornly.

	"Ryoga..."

	"It's MY BOAT and you can't have it!" Ryoga shouted, clutching the boat with 
both hands as Ranma tried to pull it away from him. There was a quiet knock at the door.

	"Ranma?" Akane's voice called. "Can I come in?"

	"Yes," said Ryoga, while Ranma answered "No." Akane pushed the door open 
and stepped in. With great difficulty, Ranma bit back the sharp comment he wanted to 
make. He had given his word not to fight in front of Ryoga, and he would keep his word if 
it killed him.

	"Ryoga, come over here," Akane was saying, as she started the water running in 
the tub. Ryoga stood beside her and peered down as the water slowly began to fill in.

	"Let's put your boat in here, OK?" Akane asked. "Then we'll get you clean, and 
you can play in the tub."

	"Ok," Ryoga said after a long pause. He gently lowered the boat into the water, 
and watched it float for a little while.

	"Now, we need to get you clean before you can play with the boat. Come on over 
here, and let's get you scrubbed up while the tub fills."

	Ryoga obediently walked over to the little stool, and allowed Ranma and Akane 
to pull his clothing off.

	"I think I can handle it now," Ranma whispered to Akane.

	"It's Ok, Ranma," Akane whispered back. "Just try to remember he's only a little 
boy, Ok? He doesn't think anything of it, and neither should you."

	"Whatever," Ranma said unhappily. Akane picked up a bucket of cold water, and 
Ranma's eyes widened in horror. If she dumped that on Ryoga...

	"No!" he yelled, and then the water splashed over the little boy.

	"That's cold!" Ryoga exclaimed. Akane laughed and started to help him soap up, 
while Ranma stared in shock. Ryoga hadn't changed! The curse hadn't happened to him at 
this point in his life!

	"Ranma, are you OK?" Akane was asking worriedly.

	"Fine," Ranma said numbly, then shook himself and started working some 
shampoo into Ryoga's thick mop of hair. By the time Ranma and Akane had scrubbed the 
little boy from head to toe, and carefully rinsed the soap away, the tub was full enough for 
Ryoga.

	"Here ya go," Ranma said, lifting the boy down into the tub. Akane knelt by the 
tub while Ranma perched on the edge.

	"I love you," Ryoga said, looking up at them both through spiky wet eyelashes.

	"Oh, honey, we love you, too," Akane answered, her throat tightening.

	Ryoga looked down at the boat in his hand, then whispered the question that 
had been nagging at him all day.

	"Will you still love me after I get big and ugly?"

	"Of course we'll love you when you're big," Akane said, tossing a puzzled glance 
over at Ranma. Her fiance shrugged at her. "But what makes you think you'll be ugly?"

	"Mommy says when I get big I'll be as ugly as Daddy." Ryoga's gaze was still 
fastened on the boat, though tears were blurring his vision of it. Akane gasped and 
glanced at Ranma again. He was frowning, nodding his head slowly. That certainly 
meshed with what he had seen of Ryoga's parents.

	"Daddy says I'm already ugly," Ryoga added, oblivious to the silent exchange 
going on over his head. Suddenly the tears that had welled up in his eyes spilled out, and 
Ryoga dropped the boat to hug his knees as he cried.

	"Oh, Ryoga, they're wrong," Akane said, reaching down to pat his shaking back. 
"You're not ugly at all."

	"Yes, I am," Ryoga sobbed. "I'm ugly and I make them fight!" Ranma got up and 
left the room suddenly, leaving Akane alone to try and soothe the boy's wounded feelings. 
She bit back her anger at Ranma's retreat as she searched desperately for something 
appropriate to say to Ryoga.

	"Honey, it's not your fault if other people fight," she finally said. "Only if you 
fight." She paused a moment as her words echoed back at her. She was always blaming 
others for angering her or picking fights with her, wasn't she? Especially Ranma.

	As if summoned by her thought, Ranma dashed back into the room, carrying a 
hand mirror. Akane felt a stab of shame at her earlier reaction. She had been so quick to 
assume he was leaving her to deal with Ryoga alone...

	"You're not ugly," Ranma said to the boy in the tub. "Look!"

	"I don't want to," Ryoga mumbled, brushing at his tear-streaked face with a wet 
hand and leaving it even wetter than before.

	"Come on, I promise that you're not ugly," said Ranma, holding the mirror up. 
Ryoga reluctantly looked up at it and then glanced quickly away from his reflection.

	"Look again," Akane urged. "You're not an ugly boy. Just look at your beautiful 
hair." Ryoga looked at the boy in the mirror, watching as Akane's hands smoothed the 
drying locks.

	"It's so thick, and shiny, and soft," Akane said. "Now look at Ranma's hair. Your 
hair is just like Ranma's." Ryoga looked up at Ranma in surprise. Ranma was gaping at 
Akane. Was she trying to flirt with him? Well, two could play at that game!

	"And look at your eyes, Ryoga," Ranma said. "You have beautiful, sweet brown 
eyes that light up when you smile and tell people how you feel. Your eyes are just like 
Akane's eyes." Ryoga looked from the mirror to Akane. Her eyes were downcast, the dark 
lashes fluttering against her blushing cheeks. Then she raised her eyes to meet Ranma's, 
her shy smile matching his.
	
	Ryoga smiled at his reflection, then suddenly grew downhearted again.

	"Nobody has a mouth like me," he said sadly.

	"Sure they do," Ranma answered quickly. "Mr. Panda has teeth just like you!"

	"Ranma!" Akane gasped, but Ranma just pointed at Ryoga, who was grinning at 
the mirror now.

	"See?" Ranma asked. "You look a little bit like all of us. That means you belong 
here!"

	"Do I look like Kasumi and Nabiki, too?" Ryoga asked hopefully.

	"You're more like them on the inside," Akane said after a long moment's thought.

	"On the inside?" Ryoga asked dubiously. He didn't like the sound of that!

	"Well, Kasumi is very sweet and loving, and so are you," said Akane. "And 
Nabiki is very smart, and you're smart, too."

	"Mommy says I'm stupid," Ryoga interrupted matter-of-factly. "Because I get lost 
sometimes."

	"Yeah, well, you're smart enough to stay here with us, right?" Ranma said, 
ruffling the boy's hair. Ryoga grinned and jumped up to hug him, thoroughly soaking 
Ranma from the neck down. Ranma froze a minute, then tentatively hugged the boy back. 
Akane turned aside to hide her smile.

	After a few moments, Ryoga backed out of the hug and then stared at Ranma's 
wet clothes in horror.

	"Please don't be mad, I didn't mean to make you wet!" the boy cried, cowering 
down in the water as though he expected to be hit.

	"I'm not mad," Ranma said, his voice a mix of surprise and hurt. "I'd better go 
change before this turns cold, though. I'll be back, OK?" He ruffled Ryoga's hair again on 
his way out the door.

	Akane glanced after Ranma for a minute, the turned to Ryoga. "Are you ready to 
come out of the tub now?" she asked. Ryoga nodded and clambered up over the edge of 
the tub. Akane wrapped him in a huge, fluffy towel that engulfed him, then let the water 
out of the tub and led the boy out of the bathroom by the hand.

	"We need to find you something clean to wear," Akane said as she and Ryoga 
walked to her room. Ryoga nodded sagely at this pronouncement, though he privately 
wondered why he couldn't just wear the same clothes again.

	Akane pulled down the box of old clothes again, and sighed in slight aggravation 
as she had to eliminate nearly all of the clothing as unsuitable. First her mother, and later 
Kasumi, had tried to instill at least some sense of femininity in her while still being 
practical. The result was that she had a collection of charming clothes - for an active little 
girl. Everything was either too pink or too preciously frilly to put on Ryoga. She ended up 
dressing him in a plain white T-shirt that hung halfway to his ankles and wrists, and
vowing to herself that they would go shopping the next day.

	"It looks like a dress," Ranma commented from the doorway.

	"It's a night shirt," Akane sniffed. 

	"It's cute," Ranma said. "But let's get him some boy clothes tomorrow, OK?"

	"I was just thinking the same thing," Akane answered with a gentle smile.

	"I wish you were my real Mommy and Daddy," Ryoga said wistfully. Akane 
opened her arms with a smile, and Ryoga ran to hug her, burying his little face against her 
shoulder and wrapping his thin, bare legs around her waist.

	"Can I call you Mommy and Daddy? Just for pretend?" Ryoga mumbled into 
Akane's hair. Akane shot a questioning glance at Ranma, who looked torn between 
laughter and terror. Grinning at the comical expression on Ranma's face, she hugged 
Ryoga tighter and answered slowly. "Sure, honey. I think that would be a nice thing to 
pretend. We love you just like our own little boy."

	"I think I hear someone knocking," Ranma said. "You guys stay here, and I'll be 
back, Ok?"

	"Ok!" Ryoga agreed cheerfully.

*****

	Ranma bounded down the stairs and reached the door just as Kasumi slid it open. 

	"Airen!" Shampoo cried, throwing her arms around him.

	"Sh-Shampoo," Ranma stammered, trying to push her away gently. "Where's the 
old ghoul?"

	"Great-Grandmother on her way. After Ryoga eat mushrooms, you take Shampoo 
on date?"

	"Let's wait till we see whether the mushrooms work," Cologne rasped as she 
made her way slowly to the door. 

	"Hey, old ghoul, you Ok?" Ranma asked. He wouldn't have thought it was 
possible for Cologne to look WORSE than usual, if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

	"I'm fine, son-in-law. Just missed out on my beauty sleep the past two days. You're 
not looking so good yourself, you know."

	"Did you get the stems?"

	"We found them, all right," Cologne said. "It was no easy task, either, trying to 
track the path Ryoga took. He must've circled back on himself at least a dozen times!"

	"That boy have no sense of direction," Shampoo agreed.

	"Yeah, well can I have 'em? He doesn't have a whole lot of time left, you know."

	"Of course," Cologne said, shrugging her way out of a small backpack. "They're 
in here somewhere."

	"I'll go get a basket to put them in," Kasumi said cheerfully. Ranma was fairly 
dancing with impatience by the time Cologne had found the stems and placed them in the 
small basket.

	"Here you go, son-in-law. We should see a change as soon as he eats them all."

	"Hey, thanks! This is great!" Ranma cried, grabbing the basket of stems and 
racing up the stairs. "Hey, Ryoga, look what I got for ya!" he called.

	Ranma ran into Akane's room and came to an abrupt halt, staring slack-jawed as 
for one horrified moment everything froze. Little Ryoga waved at him from Akane's arms, 
and gave him a huge, toothless, slobbery grin.

	"Oh, no..." Ranma gasped.

	"He...I only took my eyes off him for a minute!" Akane cried. "Ranma, how can 
we get him to eat them?" she asked, her eyes welling up with tears. Ryoga leaned back to 
look up at her.

	"Give the stems to me," Cologne said from the hallway, having followed Ranma 
upstairs. "And keep him awake!"

	Akane jostled Ryoga as his eyes started to droop shut, and he opened them again 
with a cranky whimper.

	"Here, lemme hold him a minute," Ranma said, grabbing the baby and bouncing 
him vigorously. Ryoga squealed happily and waved his little arms in the air, and Ranma 
couldn't help but grin at him. He tossed Ryoga in the air and caught him easily, and the 
baby squealed again and chuckled at him. Ranma heard Akane gasp in horror behind him, 
and he turned to face her, certain that she was about to snatch the baby away and yell at 
him.

	"Just don't drop him, OK?" Akane asked, smiling timidly as the baby gurgled at 
her.

	"Don't worry, Akane," Ranma answered. "I won't let anything happen to him." In 
the next hour he tossed the baby in the air over and over again, and bounced him some 
more. He even turned a back flip while holding Ryoga tucked tight against his chest, in an 
effort to keep him awake. Ryoga had stopped enjoying all the action a very long time ago, 
and was now howling his displeasure.

	"What is taking so long?" Ranma asked worriedly as Akane took a turn bouncing 
the baby. "I thought the old ghoul had a plan."

	"Here!" Shampoo gasped, as she came bounding up the stairs and into the room. 
She held a baby bottle filled with a clear, amber liquid. "Great grandmother fix mushrooms. 
I hope it work!" She handed the bottle to Akane, who sat down on the bed with the baby 
in her arms. 

	Akane offered Ryoga the bottle and he started drinking eagerly, clutching the 
sides of the bottle with his little hands as if he thought it might be taken from him. She 
smiled gently down at him.

	"Why'd it take so long?" Ranma whispered in an aside to Shampoo, unable to 
tear his eyes away from Akane and the baby.

	"Have to go find bottle," Shampoo whispered back, hiding a smug smile. "You no 
have any here." She was certain that Ryoga would be fine, now, and Ranma would 
naturally turn to her in gratitude. Surely Ranma would see that she had selflessly endured 
great hardships to save his friend... 

	"Ranma! He's going to sleep!" Akane hissed worriedly. "What do I do?"

	"Let him," Cologne whispered as she pushed past Ranma and her great-
granddaughter to gaze at the baby. "If the mushroom stems are going to work, it'll be now 
or never."

	Everyone watched intently, the silence unbroken except by the noise of Ryoga 
sucking on the bottle and occasionally making little sounds of contentment. His big brown 
eyes slowly started to droop shut, gazed around unfocused, and then finally closed. 
Akane felt his body go limp in her arms, and she stared down at him hopefully, knowing 
that he was asleep and praying that he would be OK...

	The baby started to shrink in her arms, and Akane quickly jostled him. His eyes 
opened slowly, and he resumed sucking on the bottle. Ranma stepped up and gently 
tugged on the baby's tiny bare toes. Ryoga curled his toes and watched Ranma while he 
drank.

	"Ryoga," Ranma whispered, his throat tight. "Don't do this to me, man..."

	"He's down to about six weeks now," Cologne said sadly. "I'm sorry. There isn't 
enough time..."

	"He dying?" Shampoo asked in disbelief. After all her work, after all she and Great-
Grandmother had done, Ryoga was dying anyway? Her eyes welled up with tears as she 
thought of Ranma's grief, and then she realized that she would grieve herself. She would 
never know if he might have been all right, if only they had gotten there sooner... Shampoo 
started to cry noisily, drawing the baby's attention to her.

	"Come with me, Shampoo," Cologne said quietly, leading her great-
granddaughter out of the room. "There is nothing more we can do here, and your tears will 
only confuse him." She didn't add that it was only appropriate, somehow, that Ryoga's last 
sight should be of the woman he adored.

	"Ranma, what do we do?" Akane asked, struggling to keep her own tears from 
spilling out.

	"I don't know," Ranma mumbled, staring at the baby and swallowing around the 
lump in his throat. He had often angrily wished that Ryoga would just get out of his life, 
but not like this. His vision started to blur, and he turned away from Akane to brush the 
wetness from his eyes. Behind him, he heard Akane whispering.

	"Ryoga, I'm sorry. So sorry," she was saying. "All I can give you now is this." 
And she began to sing, a sweet, gentle lullabye. Her clear voice filled the room, gently, 
soothingly, offering up the song that her own mother had sung to her.

	"kimi wa nee itsumo tsuppatteru kara kitto nee tsukarechaun da yo Mu--"

	Ranma squeezed his own eyes shut. Her voice, so sweetly warm and loving, 
reminded him powerfully of his own mother. He wondered if she had ever held and sung to
him, before his father had taken him away.

	He was certain that Ryoga's mother hadn't lavished such affection on her only 
son. She was a cold, bitter woman, and Ranma couldn't imagine her lovingly cradling 
Ryoga and singing to him, as Akane was doing. He turned around to see Ryoga closing 
his eyes again, still sucking on the bottle as he drifted off to sleep. Akane had stopped 
singing, and the tears that had been threatening were now flowing, tumbling down her 
cheeks. Obeying some inexplicable impulse, Ranma crossed the room to sit beside her, 
wrapping one arm around her shoulders. He lightly stroked Ryoga's tiny hand with one 
finger, and leaned his head against Akane's. They sat like that for a long time, each trying 
not to cry in front of the other.

	Eventually Ranma nudged Akane, and started to grin.

	"He's asleep. He's not changing any."

	Akane gave him a blindingly beautiful smile as she realized it was true. Ranma 
grinned back at her.

	"He's OK," he said, and Akane nodded at him. She tried to pull the bottle out of 
Ryoga's mouth, and he started drinking again in his sleep. Akane and Ranma shared a 
silent laugh.

	"I guess he has to drink the whole bottle before he'll turn back to his own age," 
Ranma suggested.

	"Here, could you hold him for a minute? I need to go to the bathroom." Without 
really waiting for an answer, Akane handed the baby to Ranma, making sure Ryoga was 
settled snugly in the crook of Ranma's arm before she left. The change in position woke 
Ryoga up, and he gazed up at Ranma with huge, dark eyes.

	"Hey, there, Ryoga," Ranma said. "You're gonna be OK."

	The baby reached up to explore Ranma's giant hand as it held the bottle for him. 
He wrapped one chubby little fist around Ranma's smallest finger, and then closed his 
eyes again, still slurping at the bottle. Ranma smiled down at the baby, and in that moment 
a warm rush of emotion flooded over him, for this tiny baby, his sweet heaviness, his little 
hand wrapped around Ranma's finger. His best friend and worst enemy became something 
more, and Ranma smiled down at the baby's tiny face.

	"Sweet baby..." he whispered. He didn't know the words, but he found himself 
humming the melody to Akane's lullabye, and gently rocked back and forth as the baby 
slept trustingly in his arms.

	Akane looked in from the hallway, and decided not to interrupt. She made her 
way back down the stairs, and the sound of Kasumi washing dishes drew her into the 
kitchen.

	"He's going to be Ok," she said a little wearily.

	"Oh, good!" Kasumi said happily, turning around to face her. "We were afraid 
the stems hadn't worked! Cologne said he'd need to finish all the juice before he could 
return to his normal age. I didn't want to throw it away, just in case..."

	"There's more juice?" Akane asked, feeling her stomach sink.

	"It's right here," Kasumi said with a sweet smile, pointing to a shelf in the 
refrigerator. Akane gasped as she saw three huge containers filled with amber liquid...

To be continued in "The Mushroom Incident, Part 2: Raising Ryoga"