Copyright © fanfic 1997-beyond by: REIA Copyright © Ranma 1/2 by the goddess Rumiko Takahashi who was the one who created the whole Ranma-verse and is responsible for the hatchings of so MANY fanfics. I take no credit whatsoever for the Ranma 1/2 world. BTW: I've chosen to use Shampoo and Mousse's Chinese names while I write, and when I get lazy, I'll falter into the English names! Now, on with the fanfic. My Enemies, My Friends

It felt strange.

Akane Tendou, Ukyou Kuonji, X'ian Pu, and Kodachi Kunou were all sitting crosslegged together in a circle, clad in their pajamas or nightgowns. They were all inside Ukyou's room, and they were not fighting.

The reason they picked to meet in Ukyou's residence was because if they went to Akane's, there would be too much temptation to seduce Ranma. X'ian Pu adamantly refused to have the meeting at the Nekohanten's because she did not want to be around Muu Suh. Kodachi had offered her home, but Akane, being there already, did not like the idea of sleeping under the same roof of Tatewaki Kunou, and she was afraid that the Kunou's pet crocodile was going to escape. The other two girls also disagreed because they have heard of the traps and poisons inside the Kunou residence and they did not want to risk it. So, after, they all chose Ukyou's restaurant.

It definitely felt strange to Akane. But not unpleasant. It felt like a night out with the girls, a bunch of good friends that stuck together and told each other secrets and ambitions ... and love.

Love. That was the reason they decided to meet. They finally wanted to end the whole charade. They wanted to admit all their feelings and get it out in the open. They all agreed not to judge their responses, and to speak in utmost truth. Then, after they heard each of their stories, they would come up with a conclusion. Only ONE will end up with Ranma ...

"Why do -YOU- love Ranma so much?" Ukyou asked Kodachi. Kodachi was dressed in her black silk negligee, with frilly ends and black rose patterns all over.

"Ranma-sama," Kodachi sighed. "He saved my life."

Ukyou grimaced. "That's -IT-? That's why?"

"Ukyou ... no judging, remember?" Akane whispered, sharply.

"Sorry," Ukyou apologized. She was wearing pajamas that resembled her okonomiyaki uniform, with the same logo for its pattern. Ukyou had put her hair up in pins, and Akane commented how good it looked up. Ukyou asked her another question. "When did he save your life?"

"Ah," Kodachi's eyes grew misty. "It was a beautiful night indeed. Magic was in the air. The scent of black roses drifted in, faintly, not overwhelming ..."

X'ian Pu stifled a groan. Ukyou rolled back her eyes and feigned death. Akane was the only one who truly listened.

"I had just exited my enemy's domicile, and on my way home, I got hit. I fell. I had been taking a short-cut by prancing on the rooftops. Suddenly, in a blink, he was there. Even before I could open my mouth, before I could scream for help, he had already finished saving me ... he was gorgeous. Never had I seen such handsome features ... his arms were wrapped tight around me, and he held me close. No true man had ever taken me into his arms, until that night. I knew it then."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Akane lifted her hand up and narrowed her eyes. Akane was clad in light yellow pajamas. The top resembled a flowing negligee while the bottom was plain pajama bottoms. "That was the night when you tried to attack me before the martial arts gymnastics competition!"

Kodachi's expression grew too innocent. "Was it? Must have slipped my mind ..."

"Shampoo turn now, ne?" X'ian Pu interrupted. "Shampoo tell perv -- er, nice girls why she love Ranma?"

Ukyou picked up on what X'ian Pu was going to say, but she restrained herself from arguing with the purple-haired Chinese Amazon. The girls nodded, and waited.

X'ian Pu sighed, hugging the pillow tight to herself. She wore a see- through nightgown which reached her ankles over a violet nightgown that went to her knees.

"Ranma ... Ranma so strong. Shampoo no met man who so strong as Ranma," X'ian Pu began. Akane was about to say that there were a lot of strong guys in the world, but once again, she stopped herself. X'ian Pu continued, "But is not only why Shampoo love Ranma. Ranma ... Ranma nice to Shampoo. Shampoo know sometime Ranma not like when Shampoo glomp him, but he never yell at her and tell her she stupid. Ranma no insult Shampoo. Well, yes, he insult Shampoo, but he no mean it! I know he no mean it ... all time people say Shampoo beautiful and strong. Going to be good warrior, they say. But Shampoo also hear them say that she very stupid and will not last long. Only Ranma act like he no mind Shampoo at all. Ranma act like ... friend ..." X'ian Pu trailed off, and a look of confusion crossed her beautiful features. Her expression showed that she didn't think that people were still listening to her, and her voice dropped, but they could still hear her. "But, Mousse act like friend, too ... he always say good to Shampoo ... and Shampoo always yell at him and call him stupid ..."

The room became silent. Finally, Akane spoke.

"You have very good reasons for loving Ranma, Shampoo," Akane said, a little grudgingly. "And I don't think you're stupid. You're a very smart girl to track Ranma out all this way. Also, you only need a little practice to learn better Japanese ..."

"Yeah," Ukyou conceded, sighing. X'ian Pu had always been her enemy, but she never stopped to think that she had feelings as well. "But ... what about Mousse?"

"Yes, do tell," Kodachi urged.

X'ian Pu blinked and frowned. "What you talk about?"

"The truth. We made an oath," Akane emphasized. "You probably thought you were talking to yourself, but we heard you. What -ARE- your feelings towards Mousse?"

"Mousse is friend to Shampoo," X'ian Pu replied, immediately. All the girls stared at her harder, not saying a thing. X'ian Pu's temper boiled.

"What you want Shampoo say?! That Shampoo confuse love of Ranma with Mousse?! You only want Shampoo say she love Mousse so you get Ranma!!" X'ian Pu shouted, standing up.

"HEY! We just want to know the TRUTH! What are you upset about!?" Ukyou demanded. "Jeez! It was a simple question! Why don't you answer it?!"

"What -IS- your feelings toward that handsome waiter of yours?" Kodachi asked. "He has such impeccable manners, and the most wonderful Japanese dialect I have ever heard! If it was not for my dear Ranma, I would have snatched THIS catch up in a snap!"

X'ian Pu's aura turned blue, and she glared at the Black Rose. "You no speak about Mousse that way! Mousse never go with crazy girl, cause Mousse love Shampoo!"

"Ohohoho. My!" Kodachi giggled. "Temper. Why being so selfish? You never said you adored the fellow, so what is your complaint? You did not indicate you want him, but you obviously do not want another girl to get him. What is wrong with this picture?"

X'ian Pu gritted her teeth and looked ready to kill Kodachi. X'ian Pu wasn't ready to admit her feelings. She didn't want to. She was a Chinese Amazon, and their laws were her laws. She knew even if she DID love Mousse, it would make no difference. Mousse had never gotten the courage to "hurt" his love, and Shampoo knew that Mousse would never willingly lift a finger to cause her pain.

"Shampoo already give answer. Mousse is good friend to Shampoo," X'ian Pu finished, sitting down once more. At least what she spoke was a half-truth ... Mousse WAS her friend ...

Akane stifled a sigh. It was SO close that X'ian Pu admitted that she cared at least a LITTLE about poor Mousse. Akane titlted her head and stared at the okonomiyaki chef.

"How about -you- Ukyou? Why Ranma?" Akane asked, a little apprehensive. Out of all the girls Akane wanted Ranma to choose if it was not herself, that girl was Ukyou. Ukyou genuinely loved Ranma for he was. She was his best friend. She was a good martial artist, and not bad looking to boot! That was what Akane was worried about ...

"Ran-chan," Ukyou chuckled. She smiled at the whole group and true love shone through those eyes. "Huh. We gave each other those nicknames when we were just toddlers. Even then I knew I wanted to be with him. He was such a great friend. He was always fun to be with, profuse with his compliments and thanks, especially on my okonomiyakis. Of course, he's as handsome as the devil himself. Oohhh ... that braided pony-tail is sooo sexy on him!"

All the girls in the room nodded and giggled in agreement. Including Akane.

"Also, he's ... " Ukyou paused, blushing. "He was the only one who looked at me like I was actually a girl. True, most of it's my fault that guys don't think of me as a girl because of my clothes and attitude. And ..." Her voice trailed off, and she blushed even more.

"What?" X'ian Pu prodded.

"... OK OK. He was the first and only guy that's ever called me cute, OK? The first REAL guy that is. Not counting Tsubasa or Konatsu."

"How about Ryouga?" Akane asked, winking. "What about him?"

Ukyou looked genuinely startled. "Huh?"

Akane grinned. "Oh, yeah, I remember that time Ranma and I caught you guys -holding hands-!!"

"AIYAA! Is it true?!" X'ian Pu laughed, moving closer to Ukyou.

"Hey, it wasn't like --" Ukyou tried to interrupt.

"Then there was that time," Akane continued, "I caught them hugging."

"So many double love lives I am finding!" Kodachi put in.

"AKANE!" Ukyou gasped, redder than ever. "That holding hand thing was not what you think! And that hugging was because I was HELPING RYOUGA UP! Nothing else! For Pete's sake -- he's got a girlfriend! That ... that, uh ... pig girl?"

"Akari?" Akane suggested.

"Yeah!" Ukyou replied. "And he loves you, too!"

"WHAT?!" Akane practically screamed. "No way! Ryouga's a friend!"

Ukyou, Shampoo and Kodachi exchanged looks and shook their heads. Akane crossed her arms and grumbled, refusing to admit to the idea that Ryouga might like her more than a friend.

"Even Shampoo realize how lost boy love Akane."

"I, Kodachi Kunou, have observed from afar the bandanda boy's obsession of you."

"I'm not lying, Akane," Ukyou said, seriously. "Ryouga told me to never tell you this, but I think you should know. He does love you. If you even gave an inkling you loved him back, he would dump Akari faster than a hot potato, honey!"

Akane frowned. "I only think of Ryouga as a friend. I certainly don't LOVE him. I honestly thought YOU did, Ukyou!"

"I only love Ran-chan," Ukyou replied. Not!! her mind screamed, suddenly. Ukyou almost gasped outloud, but the group noticed her change of expression.

"What wrong, spatula girl?" Shampoo asked.

"Nothing," Ukyou replied too quickly.

Akane tilted her head towards her. "Are you SURE you don't have feelings for Ryouga? None at ALL!?"

"Well, he is cute, I'll give him that ... but he's so lost all the time ... but he can be sweet ... we have a lot of similar mishaps together ... but he's so much like a jackass all the time," Ukyou admitted. "But that's all I'm gonna say, OK?"

Akane sighed. "I'm going to talk to Ryouga. Now I know about this, I can't just keep it locked up."

"Let 'im down easy, Akane," Ukyou patted her shoulder. She took her hand away and grinned. "Now, what about you? What do YOU like so much about that 'baka hentai'?"

"Hey, he IS a baka and he IS in cahoots with Happosai," Akane defended.

"C'mon ... spill!" Ukyou giggled. "You ARE his 'uncute tomboy' for a fiancee!"

Akane stuck out her tongue, jokingly. "Haha. How flattering!"

Suddenly, Akane's mind went blank. She didn't know what to say. Shampoo and Ukyou both had good reasons to love Ranma, even Kodachi had an ... interesting reason ... but Akane didn't know why she loved Ranma. She just did.

"... well?" Kodachi drawled.

"He's an insensitive, conceited pervert. He thinks nothing but martial arts ALL day, and he insults me on top of that! He flirts with all of you in front of me, and he's always into some kind of stupid trouble! He's a sex changing maniac!" Akane declared.

"AKANE!" the other girls gasped.

"You're supposed to say why you love him, not why you think he's BAD!" Ukyou said.

"Akane you no sound you love Ranma at all!" Shampoo exclaimed. "You suppose to tell truth!"

"I don't know what to say!" Akane admitted, distraught. "I ... I don't know why I feel this way! He's the opposite of whatever I thought I liked in a guy. I thought somebody more like Ryouga was the type for me ... I just don't know what more I can say!"

Before any of the other girls interrupted her, she went on. "I don't know what to think anymore! One day, I'm walking and a car comes whizzing by. Before I have the time to scream, Ranma has already carried me out of the way. Then, after, he looks at me ... really weird, but I like it ... Then he asks if I'm OK, and that I worried him. After, he starts bad-mouthing the driver. Instead of calling me careless and stupid, he was more concerned that I wasn't hurt. After, one of you glomp him, and I lose it. I hit him, and he insults me. Then, here's another example: I was just walking with my new hair cut, then suddenly, he called me kawaii! Out of the blue, he called me CUTE!! I just stood there, and I thought he was joking. Then, we started arguing and he took it back. Then the time with the skating rink, where he declared I'm his fiancee, and the time when he was so determined to find me a cure to my amnesia. We've been through up and downs together, I don't even know what I feel! We've been friends, we've been enemies. He's saved my life, I saved his. It's like we cancel each other out on whatever we do!"

Ukyou fiddled with her fingers, and Shampoo sighed.

"No," X'ian Pu said, with courage she didn't know she had. "You no cancel each other out. You ... been with Ranma long and do many things ..."

"No, Akane ... you don't cancel each other out. You MATCH each other ... perfectly!" Ukyou tried to smile, weakly. "You see, whenever something good happens, it can happen to either me or Shampoo, maybe even Kodahci. But whenever something REALLY good happens, it happens to you. And I know if all of us was in trouble, and he had a choice on who to save first ... we know it will be you."

"I REFUSE TO ADMIT TO THIS NONSENSE!" Kodachi declared, rising, hysterical. Shampoo grabbed her arm roughly and sat her back down.

"Shut up, crazy drug girl," Shampoo hissed. "Shampoo know Akane love Ranma."

"We all knew," Ukyou admitted. "YOU were the only one who didn't know."

"But--" Akane began, but stopped. "Alright ... I ... I ... love ..."

"You can say it, Akane," Ukyou urged.

"I love Ranma," Akane said in a tearful breath. Then she burst into tears. "I love Ranma," she whispered, after.

"Akane, it's not so bad," Ukyou said, feeling awkward. "Why are you crying?"

"Ranma will never love a loser like me!" Akane declared.

"WHAT?!" all the girls cried in unison.

"You're cute," Ukyou began.

"You're smart," Shampoo continued.

"And Ranma loves you," Kodachi finished.

"What?" Akane lifted her head. Ukyou and Shampoo nodded as well.

"We know how Ranma feels. It does not matter how any of us feels, if the other party doesn't feel the same," Kodachi said, uncharacteristically wise.

"We know," Ukyou said, "But that doesn't mean we'll give up. Even though he loves you NOW, that doesn't mean he can't change his mind!"

"Is right. Ranma still have marry Shampoo ... unless stronger man come defeat Shampoo," X'ian Pu hastened to add.

"How could Ranma love -me-? A tomboy? An uncute one to boot!" Akane added, bittersweetly. Ukyou yawned, as did Shampoo. They all scattered into different parts of the room where they were going to sleep.

"I dunno. Go ask Ranma yourself. But I'm not sure about the rest of you guys, but I'm bushed. Let's go to sleep!"

"I would have been willing to be dormant hours ago," Kodachi mumbled, arranging her inflatable bed.

"'Night, Akane! Ukyou! Crazy girl!" Shampoo called, fluffing up her pillow and snuggling into her sleeping bag.

"Sweet dreams," Ukyou added, pulling up her bed covers.

"Sure. Goodnight everybody!" Akane called, going inside her own sleeping bag.

"'NIGHT!" everyone said in unison, as they closed their eyes and dreamed of love that will and can never be.

Author's note: You can stop reading here to keep it hanging and have your own ending to the story or read my get-everybody-(well not everyone, but just the couples mentioned in the story)together-in-just- a-few-paragraphs-with-as-little-detail-as-possible-Epilogue to match everyone I think that should be matched with whom!

Epilogue:

After that night, things went back into business. Akane had approached Ryouga, and found out he had indeed have feelings for Akane. After being let down by Akane, a depressed Ryouga wandered into Ucchan's Okonomiyaki restaurant, where Ukyou was the only one to comfort him. He then disappears a few days and returns. He had decided to leave Akari because of irreconcilable differences.

A week later, Ukyou and Ryouga announce that they are dating -- but not a couple. Akane knows better, and wishes them luck. Meanwhile, Ukyou and Akane plot to get Shampoo and Mousse together. They sneak into the Nekohanten's, steals the Contrary Jewel, and places it onto an unsuspecting Mousse. Mousse defeats Shampoo in combat. After, Ukyou flicks the jewel off with one of her spatulas. Shampoo accepts her fate, and decides to marry Mousse. Mousse faints in joy, and Cologne is so upset, she disowns Shampoo and leaves back for China.

Kodachi becomes envious of everyone's new happiness and randomly picks a man to love anew. She and Gosunkugi are a couple.

Months pass, and Cologne misses her granddaughter and accepts that they will be married. Happosai is killed in a car "accident".

Mousse, Shampoo, Ukyou and Ryouga, with the Tendos and Genma plot for Akane and Ranma to admit their feelings so they could finally marry. They barely succeed through comical antics, but succeed they did.

Akane and Ranma admit their love. Kunou goes balistic at this, but Nabiki calms him down and tells him to get himself a life. She is all too fed up by Kunou's stupidity, herself. Because of Nabiki's words, Kunou falls madly in love with her and pursues her with all the fervor he did to the pig-tailed girl and Akane. Nabiki lets him chase her, and gets money on the side. All the couples decide to have joint wedding processions. THE END C&C IS REQUIRED -- ok, I lied. But email me ... cause I have no life, except anime (at least I'm frank and honest).