A/N:

See, I said I would try to get this chapter finished as soon as possible ^_^

I’ll make this quick.

To Guardoflight: I know Nabiki is in another class, she’s also a year above Akane and Ranma. However I’ve noticed that in the anime and manga whenever there’s sports or gym classes going on, there’s more students around than belong to one year. Its not much of a stretch to believe that Nabiki’s year may have been off doing other activities inside the gym or just outside.

And with that out of the way, on with the chapter.

A/N 2: The next chapter might take a little longer to get done. I burnt the tips of a couple of my fingers in a sculpture mishap not long after I uploaded this chapter and its quiet painful to type. Thought I would just give a heads up...

Chapter 7

The Long Road

The dojo was flooded with light that streamed in through the shoji screens and the main entrance, its doors thrown wide open. A cool and steady breeze flowing through the training hall; sweeping out the smell of sweat and filling it with the scents of grass and winter flowers. Ranma tried to block it all out as she moved slowly in circle around her opponent, arms raised and ready to strike. She felt her gi ripple slightly against the persistence of the breeze, breaching the openings of the lightweight clothing and travelling along her arms and legs; sending a shiver through her as a lock of hair gently kissed side of her forehead. Ranma felt her muscle tense with anticipation; felt the ki surging through her limps as she let it flow freely.

Ukyo gazed back at her with her eyes set like hardened steel, cold and professional as they sized her up. The chef’s giant spatula was held poised and gripped tightly, the light reflecting along the length of the shaft. The okonomiyaki chef was like a statue, throwing aside the school girl and letting the warrior take over.

Then she twitched.

Ranma spun sideways as her ex cleaved through the air; the floor echoing with a resounding crack as the spatula split through the floorboards. The red head sprung forward, her small form gliding effortlessly to the side as a set of spatula shurikens raced passed her head. Ukyo reeled back in surprise as Ranma came at her, hands slicing towards her face. The chef ducked and weaved out of the way with all the speed she could muster, eyes wide with a touch of fear edging in from the corners.

Ranma felt a cocky grin tug at the corners of her lips.

Then Ukyo planted her foot in her center of her abdomen.

Air tearing up out of her lungs, the red head was sent flying backwards across the floor. Curses flew through her mind for letting herself get over confident. She’d let herself forget that Ukyo wasn’t some amateur with only a couple of lessons under her belt.

She sprung up from the floor, flipping backwards as another set of spatula shurikens thwacked into the ground one after another where she’d just been. She felt her feet land against the far wall of the training hall, her knee’s bending as she crouched on it, suspended off the ground for a brief second, time slowing as she looked at Ukyo, trying to read her next move.

Then she launched from it.

She flew through the air like a tiny red headed missile, shifting her shoulder slightly as Ukyo thrust her giant weapon at her; its edge just slicing off a few strands of stray hair. Ranma threw a punch that caught the chef across the shoulder, spinning her sideways and throwing her off balance. The red head dropped into a crouch, her leg sweeping around and collecting the other’s girl’s feet from under her.

Ukyo squealed in surprise as the world suddenly turned upside down and landed heavily on her back. Her spatula flew from her hands, even as Ranma leapt up and snatched it out of the air, spinning it around with lightning speed and bringing the bladed tip to a hairs width from her sparring partner’s neck.

Ranma cocked a grin. “Give?”

Annoyance flashed across Ukyo’s eyes. “Never! But I’ll let you off easy today.”

A second of silence followed before both of them started to laugh in unison. Ranma fell back on her butt, enjoying the feeling of a genuine laugh for the first time in weeks, letting the tension flow out of her limbs as she wiped a thin sheet of sweat from her forehead. Her chest rose and fell with deep lungful’s of breath, her heart pounding rapidly.

“You’re sharp as ever,” Ukyo said finally.

Ranma couldn’t help but frown though.

The okonomiyaki chef was breathing normally. Her face wasn’t flushed with exhaustion.

“Damn it!” She cursed inwardly as an irritated change washed over her face as she stared at the other girl. “You let me win………”

“I did no such thing!” Ukyo protested with an insulted air about her, but Ranma saw the brief flash of worried guilt creep into the other girl’s eye, and when she tried to break eye contact, it only confirmed it for her.

Ranma swore loudly and jumped up, surprising Ukyo.

“How am I suppose to get back to what I was like if you’re not going to take this serious Ukyo!” she demanded angrily as she stated pacing. “I asked you to spar with me because I thought you of all people wouldn’t hold back!!”

There was of course Shampoo that she could have asked, but she wasn’t that stupid. The blue haired Chinese girl was likely to accidentally kill her in the heat of the moment.

Ukyo sighed. “I’m sorry Ran-chan……… I was worried I might hurt you……...”

With a loud crack, Ranma slammed her fist into a wooden practice dummy, a network of cracks spreading across the surface in an instant. Ukyo flinched, and looked down at her feet in shame. Ranma closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A familiar surge frustration flushed through her. She wasn’t sure what she hated most. The fact that her friend thought she was that weak now that she needed to go easy on her, or that she was right.

Was this how her few female opponents had felt in the past, that she had refused to fight them simply because they were girls? No wonder they were usually so pissed at her, being treated like second rate fighters just because of their gender………

She was not looking forward to being treated the same way………

“I’m sorry………” Ukyo repeated softly.

“Don’t be,” Ranma shook her head. She turned to the other girl with a pleading look. “But, if you want me to be who I use to be, then you can’t treat me like I’m some fragile toy, Uuchan………I don’t want or need special treatment just because I’m stuck like this. If you spar with me, I expect you to fight me with everything you have, not like I’m some bug you can crush under your heel that you feel sorry for.”

Ukyo gave her a careful stare, walking calmly up to her and looked her up and down. Ranma suddenly felt like an insect being studied under a microscope.

“So this doesn’t hurt?” the other girl poked her in the abdomen suddenly.

Before she could stop herself, Ranma gasped loudly and doubled over, clutching at herself as her face twisted in pain. Ukyo stood over her with her hands on her hips giving her a patient stare.

“No, it doesn’t,” Ranma protested stubbornly through clenched teeth.

Ukyo sighed again. “Ranma, while we’re not exactly made of glass. Most girls don’t have the ability to take the same amount of physical damage that most guys can. We’re not weaker because of it, but it does mean we have to be smarter and more careful in a fight. You’re talking about becoming what you used to be, but you have to understand that you’re never going to be able to take the kind of punishment you used to be able to against strong opponents. Imagine if that kick had been one of Ryoga’s punches; you’d have been pulverized!”

As much as she wanted to believe otherwise, Ranma knew she was right.

She let and exasperated breath and crossed her arms, pouting. “I just want to be the martial artist I used to be before this whole mess. And that means working out and I don’t have Pops to spar with so that means I need people that can match me. I’m so weak at the moment, it’s pathetic. My attacks didn’t even faze Ryoga the other day!”

She didn’t miss the frown that creased Ukyo’s brow.

“Don’t give me that look,” she added darkly. “I aint plannin on attacking him again so stop worrying. Not unless the idiot does something stupid to piss me off.”

“Oh, so it’s a given then,” Ukyo replied dryly. She held her hands up in a placating manner when Ranma shot her a warning look. “Even still, you know better then anyone how hard it is to hurt Ryoga. Even when you were male you had trouble getting through his defences. The only reason you were ever able to beat him is because you were able to deliver punches like his but with greater speed and that’s your strength. You’re never going to be as physically strong as you used to be, but you should know better then anyone that physical strength isn’t nearly as important as brains in a real fight.”

Ranma didn’t feel nearly as comforted by that as she should have.

It had only been a couple of days since the whole fiasco at the school and she was still trying to make sense of it all. Being told straight out that she was never going to be as strong as she used to be wasn’t really something she wanted to hear at the moment.

Even if it was something she had to hear.

“You’ve been out of the game for nearly two months now sugar. You spent a month mostly unconscious. You haven’t had any real practice and your last big battle ended with………well you know. My point is Ranma, you’re worried you’re not strong enough, but your body is just sluggish from not being used the way it’s been trained to. Once you get back into the swing of things you’ll be back to fighting form in no time at all,” her ex added reassuringly, patting her gently on the shoulder. “Don’t push yourself too hard too fast. You’ll just hurt yourself.”

Ranma smiled faintly, and nod slightly.

She glanced timidly from the corner of her eye at her ex, unsure how to ask her what she wanted to. She was still trying to make herself get used to the idea of talking about her feelings. It still didn’t feel right to her, but she didn’t want a repeat of what had happened to the school. She didn’t want to bottle up what was bothering her just because it made her uncomfortable to talk about. After all she was seventeen, not that far off eighteen. It wasn’t like she was a kid anymore.

“Ukyo…” she couldn’t mask the hesitation in her tone.

“Yes Ran-chan?” Ukyo sat down across her. “What is it?”

Ranma paused, chewing the inside of her cheek lightly as she considered her words. “…I was wondering, my emotions………how they’ve been all over the place lately………is that because I’m girl now?” Ukyo stiffened noticeably and Ranma knew immediately she had said the wrong thing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” she added quickly.

Ukyo sighed and shook her head. “No, you did mean it. It’s ok though, its how your idiot father raised you. I don’t blame you for that, but there are plenty of girls that would, like a certain Tendo we both know.”

Ranma couldn’t help but smile, resisting the urge to laugh.

“Anyway…” Ukyo continued with a small smile of her own. “Women tend to be more sensitive then men to the emotions of others and I will admit we can be overly emotional about some things. BUT, really when you get right down to it, it run’s in both directions sugar. There are a lot of men out there that can be just as sensitive to emotions as women can be, just as there are women out there that don’t want to deal outwardly with feelings, both their own and those around them. So, to answer your question… no…I don’t think what you’re going through is because you’re a girl. Not entirely at least.”

Ranma nodded silently, her face scrunched up in thought. She knew it wouldn’t be as simple as being able to blame it all on gender.

Some things sounded so simple, while others just seemed so unbelievably complicated.

She didn’t understand why it had to be so hard.

“Why don’t you talk to Dr Tofu?”

Akane’s words filtered into her mind suddenly. She had pushed the idea aside after her outburst, her mind else where as she dealt with everything she was putting herself through. When Akane had first brought it up, she hadn’t really been in the right frame of mind to consider the pro’s of talking to Tofu, but now that she thought about it, now that she was calmer and thinking more clearly, she was starting to think the doctor might be the best person to go to for help. He seemed to known something about everything and had always been helpful in the past and sensitive to her curse.

There was Cologne of course, but her dealings with the old ghoul in the past had left a bitter taste in her mouth. Despite everything the Amazon Matriarch had taught her – the Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken and the Hiryū Shōten Ha – she didn’t trust the old woman as much as she probably should.

Things were different now though, she reminded herself. She was free of the marriage to Shampoo – at least she hoped so – and Shampoo hadn’t seemed like she was interested in carrying out the kiss of death………

She decided after a long moment of consideration, that Cologne would be her back up choice………

* * *

In a relentless progression, dark clouds gathered in the sky, casting a dreary shadow across Nerima. With them returned the chill in the air, the cold biting breeze that brutally swept through the streets. The few days they’d had of warm summer-esque weather were over and winter was returning with a vengeance. There was a chance of snow in those clouds that would blanket the town in a soft powdery and icy white.

Cold dark eyes swept the expanse of the Nerima district, face twisted in a sneering scowl at a stream of bitter thoughts that would not quit. This place held frustrating feelings for the man. He had waited a long time to get back here; to get another chance. There was no doubt there would be another chance, it had just been a matter of patience, of which he had very little.

But it had paid off finally, and he would at last get the revenge he sorely deserved………

The immense figure did not turn when a smaller one walked up from behind him. A short puggy man with a self assured look in his eyes; The look of a man who knew he was right even when he was wrong – which was often – and didn’t care what anyone else said.

He was a man comforted by the delusions and ideologies he immersed themselves in.

They both were.

The only difference between them was that the larger man was not afraid to get his hands dirty if he had to.

And even if he didn’t………

The larger man grinned violently. “I will enjoy this.”

* * *

Ranma crossed her arms, rubbing the sides of her upper arms as her breath frosted lightly in front of her face, wishing she had grabbed a sweater and cursing the sudden but not unexpected change in the weather. She grumbled, vowing death to the weatherman for predicting the end of the warm days. It didn’t really matter to her that it didn’t work that way; as far as she was concerned it was entirely the weatherman’s fault. If not for the change, then for not giving her enough warning.

The red head nearly sighed with relief as she stepped inside the doctors’ office, the interior warm and inviting as always. The chill in her bare forearms slowly fled her limbs as she rubbed her hands together. She glanced around, noting the lack of patients.

It wasn’t an uncommon sight.

It was rare to see anyone in the waiting room. She had always wondered if that was because people in the area rarely got sick or hurt or if it was because Tofu was just that good. She was willing to go with the later, knowing from experience the skills the good doctor possessed, complete with a reassuring bedside manner and a sense of humour many in his field lack.

Of course if Kasumi was here, or had been ………

……… Ranma suddenly felt very nervous………

“Oh, hello Ranma,” Tofu suddenly emerged from the examining room. “What can I do for you?”

She did breathe a sigh of relief this time when she saw that his eyes weren’t glazed over with irrational joy.

That was a good sign that Hurricane Tofu hadn’t occurred.

He tilted his head in concern. “You ok Ranma? You got a strange look in your eyes.”

“Eh…I’m fine,” she replied quickly. “Um……… Doctor Tofu, I just wanted to….eh… ask –”

“Some questions?” Tofu smiled as he interrupted her. She nodded meekly. “I thought so. I thought you would have come by sooner than this.”

“I’ve had a lot on my mind…” she explained, shrugging slightly, not knowing what else to say really.

Tofu nodded in understanding. “Well, I’m glad you decided to finally. If you had taken much longer, I was going to come and see you myself. I would like to give you a check up. I want to make sure your body is healing properly after your ordeal. You went through a lot and were very weak when Ryoga brought you back. I don’t think the intention was to kill you, but the person that left you in that state very nearly did. You were lucky.”

Memories of the guardian flashed through her head, her body shivering in fear at the sheer overwhelming force he had brought to bear on herself and Ryoga. She still couldn’t believe that even with their best attacks they hadn’t been able to hurt him. She hadn’t even been able to use her Hiryū Shōten Ha because he had kept breaking her spiral.

Doctor Tofu led her into one of the examining rooms and motioned for her to sit on one of the beds as he retrieved his instruments.

“So, what is it that you wanted to ask, Ranma?” he asked calmly, as he approached with a stethoscope and pulled a chair next to the bed.

She told him about everything that had happened since she had woken up. About how she had been acting and all the emotions she had been feeling, and even about her lack of sleep. He listened with genuine patience and interest. He didn’t look at her as if she was overreacting or being silly. She supposed that it was his job to be interested when listening to a patient so he could help them properly. Perhaps it was the male side of her that had expected him to scoff at what she was telling him, and tell her that it wasn’t important.

“So you’re scared that you’re feeling this way because you’re a girl now?” he asked.

She nodded slowly.

“Could you turn around and lift the back of shirt please?” he told her as he considered her words.

She did it hesitantly, turning her back to him as she crossed her legs and raised the shirt. She couldn’t help but flinch when the cold metal of the stethoscope pressed against her skin.

“Well, from a strictly medical stand point Ranma, I don’t think what you’re feelings is because you’re a girl now. From what you’ve described it sounds as if you’re suffering from a hormonal imbalance,” he explained. “Men suffer from this as commonly as women do, so its not really a question of gender, more then it is of cause. For you, I believe your imbalance is due to the fact that you’ve never been in your female form this long before. Though you probably noticed that you felt differently at times when you’ve been stuck before, but never really gave it much thought.”

Ranma considered that for a moment, trying to think back to the times Cologne and Herb had trapped her, and even the time when she had been stuck in the iron corset and couldn’t change back without potentially killing herself. Maybe she had felt differently on those occasions, but if she had, she had been too preoccupied with everything else that was going at the time to care.

“And of course always being able to change back to your male form meant that you always had more of the hormonal chemicals found in men surging through your body than female ones. Now that you’re a girl, your body is trying to find a common ground. This is something it’s never really experienced before. Simply put Ranma, your female body is going through an accelerated rate of puberty, trying to make up for lost time so to speak. You’ve been this way for about close to two months now right, so I think your body will start to balance itself out pretty soon, but you have to understand that’s it not something you can will to stop or change. Your emotions are bound to rise and fall, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Tofu continued as he moved the stethoscope around. Suddenly he leaned back. “Ok, your lungs sound good. Now to check your blood pressure. I’m betting it’s going to be high, but that’s to be expected, all things considered.”

She turned around again and let him attach the device around her arm, all the while letting his words sink into her mind as she ignore the increasing pressure around her forearm. She wasn’t entirely sure she liked the idea of being slave to her own hormones, but she supposed that was the same for anyone no matter what their gender.

Doctor Tofu nodded suddenly and there was a release of air as he stopped pumping the device. “I was right your blood pressure is a little high. Higher then it should be for someone your age, but as I said it’s not unexpected considering the situation. The only thing I can recommend to do about that is that you try not to stress too much, but I suppose that’s easier said then done.”

She felt an embarrassed flush spread across her face. “I’m trying not to let things get to me as much as they have been. I don’t think I’ve been as stressed as I was since the incident at school though. That really opened my eyes………”

“Well, keep at it. I know its not easy, but stressing and worrying isn’t going to help matters. In fact it’ll just make it worse,” he pointed out as he removed the device.

Ranma could only nod. “When my body finds the right balance………does that mean I’ll start to act like a girl?”

Tofu smiled, perhaps finally understanding or had been waiting for her to ask this question to begin with. “And that is the heart of the problem isn’t it? You’re more worried that it’s going to change who you are………well you can stop worrying; I assure you that it doesn’t work like that. I’m not going to lie to you, there’s a lot we don’t understand about how the brain works, and we only use a very small portion of it. What you’re going through might affect you in small ways. I can see that it’s made you more self conscious of yourself than you used to be in this body. It might even cause you to act more feminine at times, but it doesn’t change who you are. What makes us who we are is made up of more then just chemicals.”

“I’m more scared that it’ll make me like………eh…” she paused nervously, fiddling with her fingers and suddenly feeling like a like a little kid. “………boys.”

She told him about Ryoga, and how she had attacked him and when he had pinned her against the tree and how her body had reacted strangely to being so close to him.

At the time, she hadn’t exactly disliked what she had felt, and that was the problem. If there was anything at all that was worrying her the most, it was this. It had continuously popped in and out of her mind over and over again since the incident. She didn’t feel anything when she thought about it now, but she remembered feeling strange at the time. She couldn’t make sense of it, no matter how hard she tried. She didn’t want her body reacting that way every time she got into a fight with a guy.

She could see that Tofu was amused as she finished telling him about the incident, but he had the good taste not to joke about, not that she thought he would anyway. He simply wasn’t that kind of person to make light of someone that way.

“Well, judging from what you’ve told me Ranma, it was a very emotional incident for you, with everything that had happened. I wouldn’t be surprised if what you felt was simply a by-product of that. See, people have a certain perception of how they think they will react under certain situations, and sometimes they’re right but the truth is that you never really know how you’re going to react to something until it happens.” He leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful expression. “I wouldn’t worry about that just yet though Ranma, you’ll only cause yourself more stress then you need right now, and I really don’t think its anything to be concerned about.”

“I suppose so,” she agreed tiredly.

Perhaps she was just overreacting and letting her fears get the better of her again.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

* * *

Old weathered features scanned the restaurant with narrowed eyes, frowning at the emptiness. Not a single table or booth was filled. There hadn’t been a single customer all day; save of course for the couple of delivery orders that been placed over the phone. Never had they been without walk-in customers though, except for when they closed the place early when they needed privacy. One single day of no customers wouldn’t hurt their profits of course, but Cologne wasn’t keen on the idea of it happening at all.

She chocked it up to the weather though. People rarely liked to venture outside into the cold when they could stay at home and enjoy a nice hot home cooked meal. She couldn’t fault them for that. There was little she could do about it, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.

Cologne sighed to herself.

Things had been entirely too quiet lately. She was starting to feel restless without the constant excitement she had become accustomed too since arriving in Nerima. And, she wasn’t the only one; Shampoo and Mousse were showing similar signs. Perhaps they had been gone from their homeland for too long. Maybe it would soon be time to return home once more, forever………

Balancing on her staff Cologne closed her eyes in deep thought. She wondered if Shampoo would want to leave though. She knew the girl was loyal to her people, but she doubted the blue haired girl would readily abandoned the life she had made for herself here and she was fast approaching the age when she could decide for herself whether she wanted to serve her village at home or abroad. And of course, Mousse would go or stay wherever Shampoo chose to, ever the loyal would-be husband for her great – many times over – grand daughter.

Frankly she didn’t want to leave either, but if her knowledge and wisdom could be put to better use training new warriors back home, than what was the point of staying?

………Her thoughts immediately drifted to Ranma and the gossip she’d overheard from numerous students the previous day. She’d almost dropped the bowls she had been preparing when she’d heard several of the students talking about what had happened at the school. At first she didn’t believe it, but more and more students had come by discussing the exact same thing.

She tried to imagine the proud martial artist on her knee’s the way the other Furinkan students had described, and then fleeing from the gym in humiliation. It didn’t seem possible, like it was the most absurd thing she had ever heard; especially after everything Ranma had been through. But then again, she was reminded of the day Ranma had awoken and they told her she was trapped. She vividly remembered the crushed look of defeat in the red heads eyes as she had knelt there on the floor of the Tendo’s bathroom, and her soul wrenching scream.

The old Amazon bitterly cursed herself.

She should have made sure those two had waited for everyone!

…………

Cologne snapped her head up suddenly, ripped from her contemplations as a chill shot through her. Her eyes narrowed dangerously and she gripped her staff tighter. The unmistakeable presence of ki saturated the air. The malicious blood lust was enough to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

Shampoo and Mousse approached her cautiously, no doubt aware of the presence as well.

“Great grandmother?”

Without pausing to answer the young girl, Cologne rushed outside; unease settling into the pit of her stomach as she turned her gaze in the direction of the ki with a worried realization…………

“Come on you two!” she snapped at the young fighters behind her, and took to the roof tops a second later.

…………She knew this ki.

* * *

With the cold biting at her unprotected forearms, Ranma walked in silence along the street, head bowed and sparkling blue eyes set deep in thought.

The streets were nearly deserted and the clouds overhead had only seemed to get darker. A storm wasn’t far off, that much was obvious. It was just a question of how long it would last for.

As she walked, the red head’s mind wandered, processing what Tofu had told her. Was what she was going through simply a matter of her bodily chemicals being out of whack or was it psychological, or both? She wanted to believe that it was just the former, but her fears about what they might make her do or act was always there at the edge of her mind.

Irrational though it may have been, part of her had trouble accepting she could be a girl and still be who she had always been.

It was stupid, she knew this.

How was she suppose to make peace with all of this if she was constantly at war with herself? Why couldn’t it be as simple as just putting it behind her and moving on? Why did she have to stop and consider every thought or action before she made it, just because it might be girly? No one would care if she did. She was the only one that cared after all about how she acted.

She sighed.

Maybe she was just over thinking it all………

She had resigned herself to the fact that she wasn’t going to like all the answers she found.

Of all the things Tofu had told her though, it was knowing that her emotions would go back to normal that brightened her spirits somewhat. The constant anxiety and anger she had been experiencing lately, the pain and fear she felt, was all so exhausting. It wasn’t as bad as it had been prior to her outburst a couple of days earlier, but it was still there. Perhaps when her emotions settled down, she would be able to think straight again and everything wouldn’t seem so hard anymore.

She looked forward when she could feel comfortable in her own body again………even if it was a girl’s body………

…….Ranma looked up suddenly as a shadow fell across her, just in time to let out a squeal of alarm as she crashed hard face first into someone’s chest. The force of the collision sent her staggering backwards, arms flailing wildly in a mad panic as she tried to catch her balance. Then all of a sudden a hand snatched one of hers out of the air and pulled her back on to her feet as she started to topple backwards.

She let out a sigh of relief and looked up……… “Thanks. I wasn –”

………And found herself staring at Ryoga………

Well isnt that just dandy.

Of all the people………

She looked down to realize he was still holding her hand. She snatched it away in alarm as her cheeks reddened embarrassedly.

Awkward silence blanketed them as they stood there, Ryoga looking down at his feet and Ranma looking off to the side, seeking some sort of escape. The events of the other day replayed in her head once more. She saw herself attacking him in a terrible, irrational rage.

“Sorry, Ranma,” Ryoga apologized suddenly, cutting her out of her thoughts. “I wasn’t watching where I was going…”

She frowned at him and his oddly sincere apology. “Don’t you start treating me differently just because I’m a girl now!”

“I’m not treating you differently because of what's happened to you Ranma,” he replied, calm but quietly with an honest look in his greens. She could only tilt her head, caught off balance by a sudden brush of confusion. He shrugged. “You’re not the only one that’s tired of being angry………”

“Well stop it,” she told him. “You’re not Ryoga if you’re not angry.”

He frowned deeply. “And you’re not Ranma unless you’re cocky and arrogant, so I guess we’re both growing up!”

The dark haired boy’s snapping retort brought the young red head up short, silencing her in an instant as he stared seriously at her, as if challenging her to keep going. Ryoga held himself tall and unflinching as he held her gaze, fire burning in his eyes and in that moment he seemed more like the old Ryoga she knew so well. Then his features softened and that calm mature air returned around him again, making him seem even more powerful.

Ranma suddenly wondered if she even stood a chance in hell of ever beating him again in a fight………

“Sorry,” Ryoga shook his head with a frustrated sigh. “That didn’t come out the way I meant it to………”

Perhaps he was right though, maybe they were growing up.

Ranma remembered a time when a comment like that would have provoked even her into a fight. It would have been slight against her pride that she would have been inclined to defend. But, she was starting to understand how useless pride could be at times, and how much trouble it could get you into if you were as reckless and careless as she had been. After all, it had been their pride and overwhelming ego’s that had made them think they could steal the jewel in the first place. All because they thought they couldn’t be beaten by anyone else except each other.

How wrong they were………

“………Are you ok?” she looked up to notice Ryoga staring questioningly at her.

She realized then that she had been staring; caught up in her own little world of thoughts………

“I’ve gotta go,” she said finally, deciding she’d had enough. “I’ll see yah around Ryoga………”

Before he even had a chance to register what she had said, she had already pushed past him and started off once more. She didn’t feel comfortable talking with him at the moment. Her head was still too messed up to trust herself. She was worried she might relapse at one wrong word and start attacking him again.

She worried that if he started treating her like a girl – acting all chivalrous and like – she really would kill him………

When she reached the corner of the street, she paused and turned around. Ryoga was still standing there, shoulders sagging in defeat, but his body tensed with frustration as he took out a self drawn map. She shouldn’t have been surprised that he had no idea where he was; it was a given for the poor guy. She watched as he glanced up from the map, looked off in one direction then shook his head irritably before looking back down at the map again. There was no way in hell he was going to get anywhere using that stupid thing she thought.

She looked off down the street she was about to turn down, the way home to a nice hot bath; then back at him again. She sighed………

……………

………Ryoga nearly yelped in surprise when she suddenly appeared by his side, grabbed his shirt and started dragging him behind her.

“Ranma?” he tried and failed to hide his surprise and confusion from her.

“Come on you dolt,” she said abruptly, making it sound as if it were more of a hassle for her than it really was. “You’re never going to get back to your camp by your own with that stupid sense of direction of yours…”

Ryoga, too confused to notice the insult could only stare blankly as he allowed himself to be guided behind the determined red head.

* * *

Kasumi had decided that the household just didn’t seem the same anymore when it was quiet and lacking the activity that Ranma’s presence had brought. It was as it had been before that fateful day when a panda carrying a small red headed girl had strolled so spectacularly into their lives and turned everything upside down. Nerima had never been in short supply of oddities before, but Ranma had been like a magnet that had drawn them all in. Now the quietness; the peacefulness that had descended upon the Tendo residence was so………so………boring………

The young woman sighed, wiping her hands with the dish cloth, after pulling out the plug in the kitchen sink.

The daily antic’s that Ranma had almost always been at the center of had provided the household with a level of excitement that had long been absent from their lives.

Maybe there was still a chance it would return though………

At least she hoped so………

Reaching into one of the cupboards to take out a glass, Kasumi’s hand bumped a tea cup sitting too close to the edge. Seeing it too late to do anything about it, she could only watch as the cup fell over the lip of the cupboard shelf and tumble through the air, turning a couple of times before it hit the hard floor and exploded into several pieces.

A saddened sigh escaped the young woman as she observed the scattered pieces, squatting down to collect them before someone cut their feet open.

Picking up the handle – still connected to a large fragment of the cup itself – Kasumi noticed with a strange chill shooting through her, that it was the one she had always served Ranma’s tea in when they had drank together…

She turned anxiously towards the window, chewing her lower lip worriedly as she looked beyond it at the dark grey clouds.

Something didn’t feel right………

* * *

Ranma sighed longingly for a hot bath; her body chilled all the way through to the bone by the time they reached the vacant lot, that by some unspoken claim had become Ryoga’s place of residence. Though she supposed no one would be stupid enough to try and make him leave by force, not if they wanted to be able to walk again. She had often noticed the construction materials piled off to the side and wondered when they would ever get around to building something here.

“There,” she gestured exasperatedly at the lonely tent in the center. “Think you can manage to get from here to there?”

Regretting his choice to accept her pity inspired help, he glowered at her and dryly replied: “I think I can manage somehow without you.”

………And then much to her disbelief, he started walking in the opposite direction!

“Oww! Hey! Stop it!!” Ryoga swore in sudden pain as Ranma grabbed him by the ear and started dragging him back towards the tent. “Let go damn it!!”

“I swear Ryoga there is something wrong with that pig sized brain of yours! It was right there in front of you!” the fiery red head berated him.

Dragging him along behind her brought back old memories. She remembered when she used to lead him home from school when they were both in junior high. Even back then she could have taken him straight up to his front door and he would still manage to somehow get turned around and start walking in the opposite direction.

He had always grudgingly asked for help, even if it had just been after one of his countless failed attempts to beat her in a “man to man fight.” So many times she seriously thought about telling him to find his own way home, never really understanding how bad his sense of direction was. Not until she saw the barely contained fear in his eyes that he would never find his way back. It was then that she had seriously considered what it must be like to never be able to get to where you wanted to go.

The frustration alone would drive her insane.

She simply couldn’t leave the poor fool to suffer like that. And that was one of her major weaknesses; she couldn’t stand seeing anyone suffer.

Not unless they deserved it, and even then she had her limits…

When she was within spitting distance she all but flung him to the tent, putting her hands on her hips as she watched him stumble towards it while rubbing his reddening ear. He shot her a withering glare that she met with an equally challenging one, daring him to say whatever it was that was brewing in his mind. Instead, with his newly acquired self restraint he just shrugged his pack off and threw it irritably inside the tent, turning his back on her at last.

When he pulled his shirt off to replace it with a fresh one, he threw it carelessly on the ground, where Ranma noticed for the first time the faint blood stains across the abdomen part.

She realized suddenly, that they belonged to her.

“He’s been trying to get back here since the other night………” she thought with a pang of sympathy. “Ryo–”

Whatever she was going to say was forgotten an instant. They felt it at the same time, the cold chill of a hostile intent shooting through them, their bodies stiffening defensively. Ranma snapped her head around to find the source, her heart pounding anxiously in her chest.

Then Ryoga was turning. “Ranma watch out!!”

Ryoga rushed toward her, arms spreading wide to guard her as his massive form towered over her. As if he had been hit with a truck, Ryoga’s entire body snapped forward like a rubber band. The whites of his eyes grew huge as his pupils shrunk to the size of pin pricks, his mouth forming an ‘O’ of shock and a scream of pain caught in his throat. Ranma barely had time to register it all before his heavy frame crashed down on top of her, driving the air of her lungs as they hit the ground.

“Ryoga get off me!” she shouted, her body screamed sensing the approaching danger.

But he didn’t move.

Something warm and wet started to soak her arms and lower body. With one arm pinned between them, she managed to pull the other one free, and in an instant the colour drained from her face.

Her forearm was covered in blood.

Ryoga’s blood!

Her eyes flashed with panic and she shoved his shoulder as hard as she could. “Ryoga! Get up! Ryoga! RYOGA!!”

Two figures appeared suddenly, standing over her and smiling cruelly as light reflected off the length of a giant Chinese broadsword.

Fear clawed through as she recognized them immediately.

“What do you want!” she screeched………

………She would never forget the Jusenkyo Preservation Society………

Before she could scream again, the short overweight Vice Chairman pressed a damp rag against her mouth and nose. Ranma’s eyes instantly flashed wide when she realized what they were doing. Muffled screams tried to escape the chloroform soaked cloth as she struggled uselessly beneath Ryoga’s dead weight.

Her eyes already starting to droop, the Vice Chairman triumphant grin widened.

“That’s right, breathe it in,” he chuckled. “It’ll all be over soon.”

“You’re right……” she thought as the darkness started swallowed her up…… “………Because when I wake up, I’m going to kill you!”

Then, there was nothing but black………

………To be Continued………