Ranma looked down at Akane’s face. It was glistening with perspiration., her eyes were closed, and her tongue darted out to wet her lips as she moaned. He felt the inside of her thigh, smiling as her body convulsed as his fingers brushed lightly against the soft hair between her legs. He slid his fingers lower, amazed at how wet she was. "I can’t wait anymore Akane."
          "Don’t."
          He positioned himself between her legs and slowly slid inside her.
          She opened her eyes. "Well? I’m waiting."
          "Wha…"
          "Are you going to or not?"
          "But…but I’m inside you."
          "Well, it certainly doesn’t feel like it. Where’s Ryouga - a real man - when I need him."
          "I’m right here Akane." Ranma looked up to see Ryouga leaning against Akane’s bedroom wall. He was naked, his erection seemed huge to Ranma. "Why don’t you go change into a girl Ranma. You certainly can’t satisfy her as a man." He pushed Ranma away then casually slid inside Akane.
          She moaned with pleasure. "Oh Ryouga! Yes! Finally a real man."
          Ranma sat up, barely suppressing a scream. His body was soaked with sweat and he was breathing heavily. A soft warmth pressed against him. He opened his eyes to see Akane’s worry filled eyes staring into his.
          "Ranma, are you okay?" She squeezed his hand, fear playing around the edges of her features. "You had a bad dream."
          "You…I…"
          "What was it?" She reached up to brush a stray lock of hair off his forehead. "Please tell me."
          "I…I dreamed I…couldn’t satisfy you." He looked away, unable to meet her eyes. "And he was there and he could. You couldn’t even tell I was there but he…"
          "Oh Ranma, don’t be ridiculous." She kept her voice light, so he wouldn’t think she was making fun of him. Leaning forward to catch his eyes, she pressed her breast against him. "When you’re excited, you’re more than enough to satisfy me."
          "But he’s…"
          "Ranma, don’t worry."
          "But what if…"
          She ran her fingers lightly across the front of his boxers. He responded exactly like she’d hoped. "You’re amazing. And you’ve got stamina and a very good reason to impress me. I have a strong feeling that the day of our duel, Ryouga will be the last thing on either of our minds."
          "Akane?"
          She leaned forward again, kissing his cheek. "Sleep well Ranma. Dream of victory. Not defeat."

          Kodachi chucked to herself which sent most living creatures within the five mile radius of the Kunou mansion running for their lives.
          "Hohohohoho!" She crept into her brother’s room and looked down at his sleeping form. "Oh Tatewake, you sleep so soundly. I’m so glad my new beauty is working." She opened a small compartment in the wall and poured a small amount of water on the plant hidden there.
          "You really shouldn’t have locked me in here without my dear Ranma. I wonder how long it will take your mind to snap wanting to love and think of that vile Akane Tendo and that wretched pig-tailed girl, only to be overtaken by tremendous pain when you do. It must be agony for you to have to be nice to my dear, dear Ranma."
          Kunou sighed in his sleep and rolled onto his side. He clutched his bokken to him.
          "Have you found a substitute Tatewake?" She tapped the bokken, wondering who her brother was imagining it to be. "Does she know that is all she is? Be careful brother, she may break under the force of your imagined love. Hohohohohohohoho!""

          Ukyou dropped her bag and faced off against the tree in front of her. She braced her spatula and charged, unable to decide whether to imagine Akane or Ranma.
          "Damn you Ranma Saotome!" She swung the blade, slicing the tree cleanly in half. She started as it fell sideways to reveal Ryouga.
          "Ranma’s here? Prepare to die Saotome!" He started to run off, but Ukyou managed to stop him.
          "Ryouga? What are you doing here?"
          "Here?" His voice was ecstatic. "Am I back in Nerima?"
          "Um, no. Actually, I’m not sure where here is. I wasn’t really paying too much attention to where I was going."
          "Why are you out here. Why are you mad at Ranma? Is Akane okay?"
          "Akane!" Ukyou spit out. "I’m so sick of hearing about that damn violent girl." She started cleaning her spatula. "I’m out here because of her. I’m mad at Ranma because of her."
          "Did he hurt her?"
          "He loves her."
          "That bas…what?"
          "He told her, with me right there, that he loves her." She dropped the weapon and lowered her face into her hands.
          "Does she love him?"
          "I don’t care. That doesn’t matter!"
          "It matters. If she doesn’t love him, what then?" He knew he was grasping at straws. He knew from all Akane’s talks with P-chan that she cared for his rival. She didn’t need him to protect her. Ranma had finally admitted his feelings to her. Probably because of what had happened.
          "I’m sorry Ryouga-honey." She sniffed her tears back. "I know you love her."
          "I need you to help me make my way back."
          "Why? If they love each other, what’s left for me in Nerima? If she’s with him, she doesn’t need her little P-chan anymore. We’re both excess baggage."
          "She cares for me."
          "And I’m his best friend. Consolation prizes."           "No. I mean something to her." He could feel the depression start to build inside him.
          She sighed. "I’m sorry I’m being so blunt, Sugar. But the sooner we accept it, the better. We’ve just got to decide what to do now."
          "NO!" Ryouga let loose his depression blast and decimated half the surrounding countryside. He depleted his energy and sank to his knees. "Why? Why does Ramna steal everything I love?"
          Ukyou walked over and put her arms around him. "I know how you feel Sugar. It seems like everything I want Akane has. Ranma-honey, family, friends."
          "I’m your friend too Ukyou."
          She tried to smile. "The feeling’s mutual Sugar." She got out her grill. Preparing food always made her feel better. "Hungry?"

          Cologne stirred the pot meditatively. She’d had Shampoo prepare the base recipe for her, but the finishing touches she’d have to add herself. This was an ancient secret recipe that only tribal elders could use. "Shampoo?"
          "Yes great-grandmother?"
          "The mixture will be ready soon. I need you to run to the store and get some last minute things."
          "Then husband will take Shampoo on date?"
          "Yes child. A date, and more." She handed the young Amazon a list and watched her hurry away. Unrolling the scroll, she took a deep breath. "See me, touch me, feel me, heal me," she read aloud. "To separate the truest of loves…" her voice faded as she read the ingredients silently, measuring and pouring as she worked.
          "I’m sorry child," she mumbled softly as she shook the last spice shaker. Unsure of who she was referring to, she turned the heat up and placed the lid on the pot. When Shampoo returned, they would again open for business. She wondered at Mousse’s absence. Finding another waiter was an inconvenience, but not impossible. Perhaps son-in-law needed some money.

          Mousse groaned as he tried to sit up. He was too weak to balance himself , so he slumped back to the ground.
          "Mousse?"
          He turned his head, "Yes Nabiki Tendo?"
          "Breakfast is served. May I come in?"
          "Certainly."
          She entered carrying a tray laden with food. "Kasumi wasn’t sure of what you like, so you got some of everything. Dig in."
          "Thank you." He struggled once again to sit up, failing miserably.
          "Oops. Sorry." She helped him up and supported him as he ate.
          "I am sorry to be such a nuisance to your family."
          "Hey, any enemy of Ranma’s and all that." She smiled. "Haven’t you noticed Mousse? We Tendo’s are champions of the sick, cursed and wounded. How fortunate for you, you fit all three of our criteria."
          "You are very kind."
          "No. My sisters are kind. I just pay the bills."
          "I don’t believe that. If that were the case, you wouldn’t be here with me."
          "But I’m here because I need something from you."
          "And what will it cost me?"
          "My reputation precedes me. Actually, it will just cost you an answer or two."
          He lay back down. "All right."
          "As an impartial person who knows me and, most importantly, doesn’t owe me anything, do you think that I’m pretty?"
          He blinked audibly. "What?"
          "Honestly, do you think I’m pretty?"
          "Yes. Intimidating, but quite pretty. Beautiful even."
          "Pretty enough to steal someone away from Akane?"
          "Damn that Saotome! Please, don’t fall under his spell."
          "Ranma?" She began to laugh. "You sound like Kunou. No Mousse, not Ranma."
          "I see. Or maybe I don’t. Is there another man Akane loves?"
          "No. He loves her. Or thinks he does. Or thought he did, or he did until….No. She doesn’t love him."
          "I would think that from your questions, perhaps you already have your answers. Perhaps you are just reluctant to believe them?"
          "I’ve know him since we first started school. He has never once expressed any interest until two days ago."
          "Sometimes you find love…and kindness where you least expect it. You do not underestimate your worth in other areas, Nabiki Tendo. It would be foolish to do it in this one."
          She gathered the tray and smiled down to him, hoping he could see it. "Thank you Mousse."
          "Merely repeating the advice you give others."
          "Get some rest."

          Akane slowly opened her eyes and stretched luxuriously. She loved Saturday mornings. She stopped mid-stretch, tensing as she felt someone’s stare. She slowly turned to face it. "Oh. Good morning Ranma."
          "I was worried you’d forget I was supposed to be here and mallet me out of the room."
          "So why did you stay?"
          "I figured if I left and you remembered, you might think I’d done something and mallet me when you found me. I decided to take my chances.."
          "I am not that bad."
          "Akane," he sighed, " sometimes it seems like you mallet me for breathing."
          "Only if you’re breathing with Shampoo or Ukyou attached to you."
          "Oh shit! Ucchan!"
          "What?" Suddenly Akane’s annoyance flared to a blue anger.
          "Yesterday she ran off and I was so worried about us that I forgot about her."
          "And that’s bad?" Her aura was escalating dangerously.
          "She’s my friend Akane. Yours too if you think about it. And she’s probably hurting emotionally as much as Mousse is physically." His eyes pleaded with her to understand. "She needs a friend too Akane."
         "Does it have to be you?"
          "I think so."
          "But she loves you. She wants to marry you! She’ll take this as a sign that you didn’t mean what you said."
          "But I did mean it."
          "We’ll be right back where we started."
          "Akane, I can’t just walk away from my friend."
          "But you can walk away from me?"
          "I am not leaving you, damn it! I just want to make sure she’s okay! Surely you’ll be safe here for a couple of hours. Just try not to get kidnapped by anyone. Why they always take an uncute tomboy like you I’ll never understand."
          The door closed behind her as he finished his sentence. Damn. He hadn’t meant to say all of that. Knowing his luck, he’d get back and she would be kidnapped. And Ryouga would save her and… He shook his head. No more thinking. He stood up and jumped out the window. Bouncing quickly from the ground to the roof, he headed for Ucchan’s.

          Ryouga lay on his back staring at the early morning sky. He normally didn’t sleep much when he was out wandering around, but Ukyou obviously needed some rest.
          After making them dinner yesterday, she’d erected several practice dummies and beaten them to pieces. When she’d collapsed from a combination of exhaustion, frustration and depression, he’d put her in her sleeping roll and started the fire.
          And thought about Akane. Ukyou had to be mistaken. The Akane he knew wouldn’t do what they did and then go to another man. Obviously Ranma had decided to use what he and Akane had done against her. *Careful Ryouga,* he cautioned himself. *Don’t start sounding like Kunou.*
          "You awake Sugar?"
          "Good morning Ukyou."
          "I’ve decided what I’m going to do."
          "What?" He continued staring at the ever lightening sky.
          "I’ll challenge Akane for him."
          "If you fight her and hurt her, Ranma will be furious. And you would have to hurt her pretty badly for her to admit defeat."
          "But you play to challenge Ranchan for her."
          "No one will expect me to win, but I will."
          "Ryouga sugar, why are you so sure?"
          "Before I was always afraid that Ranma was right, that she didn’t care about me, just her little P-chan."
          "And now?"
          "Now I know differently. She admitted that she cares for me. She knows I love her and she didn’t’ run away."
          "I hate to break this to you, but caring for someone and loving them are two totally different things. I mean Ranchan cares for me…" She stopped when she realized what she had just said.
          Ryouga ignored her embarrassed silence. "Isn’t that enough to keep you going? To keep you trying to be the fiancée he chooses?"
          She looked at him seriously. "But Ryouga, what if we’re wrong? What if it isn’t enough? What if he meant all he said to her?"
          "I…I don’t know Ukyou." He sat up and met her eyes. The were sad but had determination in them as well. "But I won’t give up without a fight." *Besides,* he thought, *I’ve got an ace up my sleeve.*
          "Ryouga?"
          He shook the thought away. "Yes."
          "Why do you love her?"
          "She’s beautiful and kind. She feels things so deeply. And even though she acts impulsively, at least where Ranma’s concerned, she tries so hard." He smiled. "She always saved P-chan from him. And she always begs us not to fight."
          "Because she’s afraid you’ll beat him," she asked incredulously.
          "No. Because she knows if I get beaten I’ll get depressed and store up all the negative chi. She’s like Ranma in that respect. She doesn’t want to see anyone hurting." He poked the dying fire with a stick. "Isn’t she your friend too?"
          "I suppose. She tries so hard sometimes to pretend he’s not there between us."
          "And so do you."
          "I’d rather have Ranchan than her friendship."
          "Do you really think she’d make you chose?"
          Ukyou looked at him in surprise. She thought back to the conversation from the day before. "I never thought about it." She looked at Ryouga with new eyes.
          "Maybe you should. I don’t want this to be true any more than you do. But I also plan to be prepared. I told Ranma once that if she was truly in love, I’d step aside. I would do anything to make her happy. Will you do the same? Or is your love more important than his happiness?"

          Kunou woke up quickly, sitting up immediately, proceeding to knock himself in the head with his bokken. He’d been thinking of Nabiki last night and fallen asleep holding it in his arms. "Ah Nabiki Tendo, I am distressed that I could make such a substitute for you. My honor is blackened. Though my dreams were of you, I awaken to find myself beside, not you my sweet, but this sad imitation."
          "Good morning brother dear." Kodachi opened the door and stood there in full gymnastic regalia. "You’ve received an announcement. Nabiki Tendo, sister to the bilious Akane Tendo, enslaver of my beloved Ranma-sama, shall be here within the hour."
          "Ah! Sister, you bring news that fills me with unimagined joy!"
          As he stood, Kodachi made a production of looking around his room. "Where are your lovely pictures of Akane Tendo and the pig-tailed girl?"
          Kunou fell to the floor in pain. "What?" He managed to whisper as he clutched his stomach.
          "Oh, sorry. Hohohoho." Kodachi smiled, assured of the knowledge that her newest plant was working.
          He managed to get onto the bed, taking great gasps of breath. "Where is Sasuke?"
          "I am here Master Kunou."
          "Fetch the bathing things. Nabiki," he sighed as just the thought of her seemed to ease the pain, "my financial wizard, will soon arrive. For her I must prepare."
          He hobbled out of the room, brushing past his sister.
          "Well, brother dear, I don’t want her to experience pain because of you…yet." She whispered as she crept into the room and removed a small sachet of herbs. "Not that you would ever have the courage to bring her here." Laughing quietly to herself, she strolled out of the room, heading for her greenhouse. She had much work to do.

          Kasumi watched as Genma and Soun devoured more than their share of the breakfast she’d made. She glanced up as Akane came downstairs looking very sad. "Good morning Akane."
          "Ranma went to Ucchan’s for breakfast."
          *I see.* Kasumi frowned mentally. Sometimes she wanted to slap Ranma. Not wanting to hurt the other girls was ver noble, but not when it was at the expense of her little sister. "Akane, would you like a cooking lesson today? You’ve mastered boiling water, we could work on rice again."
          "No thank you Kasumi. Dr. Tofu is going to show me some exercises to help Mousse. I’ll do that instead. I don’t’ expect I’ll ever master cooking." She ate her breakfast slowly, staring at the table the entire time.
          At the mention of Dr. Tofu, Kasumi’s heart sped up, as usual. Ranma and the others had told her how he changed at her presence or the mere mention of her name. For Mousse’s sake, she would have to go to the market before he arrived. But before he left…She smiled. However, a quick glance at Akane’s sad face, weighed down her happiness. "Akane, is P-chan lost again?"
          "P-chan?" Akane looked up quickly, her eyes filling with tears. "P-chan is gone forever Kasumi. I finally found his rightful owner."
          "I’m so sorry Akane-chan. I’m afraid I cant say anything right to you today."
          "Oh no Kasumi1" Akane rushed over to give her a hug. "You’re trying to cheer me up, but I’m okay. Just another fight with Ranma. I’ll get over it."
          "Don’t be sad Akane. Ranma usually surprises you in the end." She stood up and gathered the empty breakfast dishes. "What time is Dr. Tofu coming?"
          "In about an hour."
          "I must go to the market today. I’m sorry I’ll miss him."
          Akane smiled. "Thanks Kasumi. Mousse thanks you too."
          "Why Akane, whatever do you mean?" She smiled blankly then gave her sister a wink. At least she’d gotten Akane to smile.