From: syithe@my-dejanews.com
Subject: [Ranma][FanFic] Love and Honor: Chapter 1

				200% Ranma


	Genma swore and yanked the two martial artists apart, this was the
tenth time in an hour. "Listen you two! I'm only gonna say this one more
time-" The man's mouth continued moving but only grunts came out after being
splashed with water.

	"You say something?" Taunted a red haired girl. "I didn't think so."
Smiling she went back to cuddling with a black haired boy.

	"Maybe we should give the old man a break Ranko..." He looked lovingly
down at the figure in his arms.

	Ranko sighed. "Alright." She turned to the panda. "Look, ya' baka.
Ranma and I ain't gonna do anything... tonight." Her voice was several tones
higher then Ranma and a richer sound to it (think of Mrs. Hinako's voice
crossed with Onna-Ranma's). The panda seemed satisfied with this, he knew he
wouldn't get a better promise out of them without killing one or the other.

	Ranma grinned at the panda's grunt of frustration and gave Ranko a
quick goodnight kiss. Genma idly used one of his signs and bashed his son on
the head.

************************
************************
	3 weeks ago

	"What's up pop? We done already?" Ranma looked down from a long bamboo
pole at the small spring. Suddenly a large panda leapt out from it. "Wha-
What?" Ranma stared in shock. The panda was dressed in his father's gi (well
kinda... it looked ready to rip at the slightest movement) and had glasses
hanging of one ear.

	"That spring of drowned panda!" Called out the guide from the ground
below Ranma. "Very tragic legend, very tragic, of panda that drown in spring
two thousand year ago! Now whoever fall in spring take body of panda!"

	"Uh oh." Ranma was suddenly attacked by the panda and knocked into a
spring. He frantically swam towards the surface, taking deep breaths when he
reached air. Not realizing that 'he' was now a stunning red head 'she'.

	"Oh too bad! That spring of young girl. Very tragic legend, very
tragic, of young girl that drown in spring one thousand five-hundred year
ago!" The guide seemed rather frantic. <'What are these idiot people
doing???'>

	The panda stared at his son, who was staring at his new body. Then
Ranma's head spun and glared at his father turned panda. The panda gulped as
Ranma launched out of the pool. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Genma's
reflexes were good and he bashed Ranma a good distance away, into another
pool. 'Kuso.' Genma swore, then again anything had to be better then a girl
form. Right?

	"Oh no! Very tragic le-" Genma smacked the guide, who quickly changed
his answer to the short version. "Spring of drowned twins."

	Meanwhile two forms crawled unsteadily out of the pool. Ranma gasped
for air and looked over to see a redhead climbing out, somewhere in the back
his mind he noted she was naked and had the same bust size that he had for the
brief, much to his relief, moment he had been a girl. Then he passed out.


	Several hours later Ranma awoke frantic. He was missing something.
Sitting up he found himself on a mattress and glanced around. He had to find
it. Whatever it was. At the same time the redhead woke up, frantic and
searching. Their eyes met and they ran to each other. Holding on to each
other as a drowning man to a life jacket. "Who are you?" Ranma finally asked
when his thoughts pulled together.

	"I'm Ranma Saotome. And so are you." She looked up at the body she had
lived in all her life. Ranma found himself somehow knowing it was true. A door
cracked open behind them, sending light into the small hut.

	"Ah, so your awake boy!" Genma smiled proudly. No little cursed
spring could keep his 0son down. Then he noticed the way he and the girl were
holding each other. "Son, as much as I'd like to see you a man I can not
allow you to be with that girl." The redhead looked down at herself, she was
naked. Blushing she stepped away from Ranma, who also blushed as he noticed
her state. After several awkward moments Ranma managed to hand the girl a
spare set of clothing and the two walked outside.

	"What the heck is goin' on pop?" Ranma demanded of his father. The
female Ranma standing close to him.

	Genma raised his hands defensively. "Ask the guide!" He pointed at the
figure dressed in green.


	"Sirs very unlucky. Fall in cursed spring. Honored sir one," He
pointed at Genma "fall in spring of panda. Turn into panda with cold water,
but only temporary. Can change back with hot water." He turned to Ranma.
"Honored sir two fall in spring of young girl AND spring of twin. Never
happen before." He pulled out a teakettle and dumped it on Ranma, then
frowned. "Honored sir is very very unlucky. Boy half split with girl half."
<'So hot and cold water will do nothing to this boy? I suppose that is
good.'> he sighed. <'Stupid Japanese people, why can't they read the signs?
When it says cursed springs, it means cursed springs.'>

	"What do you mean boy half split with girl half?" The redhead asked.

	The guide looked at her for a moment. <'Wow, she a cute one.'> "Sir's
male half go into that body." He pointed at Ranma. "Sir's female half go into
that body." he pointed at female Ranma. Everyone stared at the guide, then
Genma smacked Ranma.

	"Boy you've failed me! You were part woman! What would your mother
think!!" Then he stopped. "I suppose it doesn't matter anymore though... and I
can see Nodoka again!" His son was now a man among men, he could finally see
his wife!

	The guide just sighed and walked back into the hut, not up to trying
to explain that everybody had a male and female side, a yin and yang. <'It
appears that each body still a bit of the opposite in it though, which is
good considering what a pure male/female person would be like.'>

************************
************************

	Over the weeks that had passed Genma watched as the two teenagers
changed. Their faces were perhaps the most notible different. Ranma's face
became more sharp and handsome, making him look older then he was. In
addition to this his body changed too. Still the same proportions but the
muscles became more pronounced and dense. Ranko's (the name they had finally
decided to go with to avoid confusion) face had changed too, becoming more
feminine and moving her from cute to beautiful. While she was beatiful she
was no weakling, she had all the skill Ranma did but she was faster. She had
kept her hair braided, but even with that she no longer looked like Ranma's
sister. Ranma and Ranko had similarities around them still but they didn't
look like family. Which Genma considered a good thing, the couple had been
getting strangle looks from villagers on their journey. The two had also
become inseperable. Being out of site of each other caused them both to
become frantic, and when they were out of contact for more then an hour or so
they began to feel pain and then... Genma shuddered. Best not to think about
it. This wasn't what Genma was worried about at the moment though. He was
worried about telling Ranma he had a fiancé waiting for him in Japan.


	"So we're visiting one of your friends pop?" Ranma casually asked as
they walked down the streets of Japan.

	"Yes. A very good friend of mine!" Genma replied quickly... very
quickly.

	Ranko frowned, holding Ranma's hand a little tighter. "What are you up
to now? Does this have anything to do with the reason you keep Ranma and I
apart?" That was really irritating her. For the past month whenever they
started to get intimate Genma would burst out of nowhere and ruin it. She
glared at him.

	Genma immediately began to sweat. "Of course not!" 'Time for Saotome-
Evasion-Tactics-Subject-Change-Maneuver... I gotta shorten these technique
names down.' "I see you got a new dress." He said to Ranko.

	Ranko smiled brightly. "You like it? I know Ranma does, he's barley
been able to take his eyes offa' me." She smiled as Ranma turned red. She was
wearing a shampoo-esqe dress. That's to say something like a nearly
sleeveless shirt and a really small mini-skirt combined. Genma had noticed
too, but he was past the age where such things effected him so it really
didn't make much of a difference. Ranma glared at a boy who was staring a
little to openly at Ranko.

	"Are you jealous Ranma?" Ranko asked innocently.

	He smirked at her. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't be." He bent
down to kiss her when Genma suddenly interrupted.

	"There it is!" He pointed to a house with a koi pond in front. Sighing
the couple walked up to the door, followed by Genma, and knocked.



	Nabiki ran to the door "Oooohh it must be Ranma!" After the whole story
story father had told her she couldn't help but feel a little excitement.

	"Saotome my friend we've been waiting!" Soun practically shouted as he
opened the door.

	'Not bad!' Nabiki thought to herself as she looked at the boy. 'He has
his looks going for him if nothing else.' Then she noticed the girl, and how
they were holding hands... and the dress that was shorter then her short
shorts. 'They might just be friends. But somehow I doubt it.' Nabiki had a
knack for juding people, and right now she was sure these two were much more
then friends. A little saddened by this she turned and walked back inside the
house as Soun welcomed the group.

	Akane watched as Nabiki walked back into the room, looking a little
sad. 'The guy must be a real disappointment.' She thought to herself. Then
her father walked into the room, followed by who she assumed to be Ranma. Her
heart skipped a beat. 'Now he is-' Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw
the girl holding her hand. Akane got a little angry, wasn't this supposed to
be their fiancé? Then she suddenly felt very happy. 'This means the
engagement is off!!'

	Kasumi had a reaction similar to her sisters. 'He can't be that
young...' She thought to herself, then she noticed the girl. 'Oh that's nice!
He has a girlfriend!' Humming she went back to cleaning the house. Soun then
proceeded to try and hug Ranma, who kept dodging out of the way. Genma finally
stopped his friends and said something to him in a low voice. Soun passed out.



	"This is all your fault daddy! You shoulda' checked if he was single
first, how do we get engaged to somebody that's already dating?" Nabiki
frowned at her father.

	"I assumed Genma's heir would be single." Soun said despairingly from
the floor.

	"Does he look single to you?" Nabiki pointed at the way Ranma and Ranko
were holding hands.

	Ranko blushed and Ranma stared at the ground in embarrassment. They
were still rather shocked from finding out Ranma was expected to marry one of
these girls. Seeing this Akane decided that the girl shouldn't be treated
like that. "Nabiki, they're our guests." She turned to Ranko. "Hi I'm Akane.
Wanna spar a little?" 'They were training in China so she should be pretty
good.' She thought to herself.

	Ranko smiled gratefully at Akane. "Alright..." Ranko was glad to have a
friend. Standing the two walked out to the dojo, followed by Ranma.

	"This is just for fun. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." Akane
told Ranko. Ranko looked over at Ranma curiously.

	He smiled at her. "Go for it." Smiling also Ranko turned back to Akane,
glad Ranma wasn't going to interrupt.

	Akane took a stance and waited for Ranko to do the same. After a
moment of her just standing there Akane got tired of waiting and charged.
Coming up to Ranko she threw a punch and was shocked when Ranko leapt in the
air to dodge it. Getting over it Akane launched a kick to the airborne
figure, who to her shock simply did the splits (her dress somehow managing to
stay in place) and the kick passed harmlessly below Ranko. 'What the heck? Is
she reading my moves?' Akane continued with a barrage of kicks and punches,
all of which Ranko dodged. 'Alright! This time for real!' Akane shot her fist
forward as fast and strong as she could, and felt a poke on the back of her
head. Turning she saw Ranko smiling at her. They each laughed nervously.

	"Your pretty good Akane." Ranko said as Ranma walked up to them.

	"Not as good as you." She replied, nearly glowing from the compliment.
She did feel a little resentment at being beaten, but it was by a girl so it
was alright.

	"I'm sure you would be if you trained all your life." Ranko said
laughing, her hand unconsciously meeting Ranma's.

	Akane smiled and walked out of the dojo. The two were soon approached
by Kasumi. "Ranko you must be sweaty from your workout, why don't you go take
bath?" Ranko blinked, she really hadn't broken a sweat but it would be nice to
have some time alone with Ranma. "Alright." smiling Kasumi walked back out of
the dojo.



	"Akane, bath's ready!" Nabiki told her sister.

	"Thanks!" Akane smiled, a bath would do her good. Maybe she talk to
Ranko about teaching her some of those moves.

&&KEEP THE HENTAI THOUGHTS DOWN! GIVE THE NEXT SCENE A CHANCE BEFORE JUMPING
TO CONCLUSIONS!&&

	Ranma and Ranko rested in the Furo, enjoying each others company.
Ranma's hand was around Ranko and she rested her head against his shoulder.
Idly she moved one hand along his chest, liking the soft yet rock hard feel of
it. Ranma smiled and toyed with Ranko's braid. The door slid open behind them
and each turned around. Akane was standing there with a wash cloth much to
small to cover anything. Silently everyone looked at each other for a moment,
then Akane calmly walked out and shut the door. Ranma and Ranko looked at each
other.

	"Whoops."


	Akane calmly slipped on her robe, put on her slippers... and
screamed. Still screaming she ran outside, grabbing the largest object nearby
and started back inside.

	"What's that for?" Nabiki asked curiously.

	"Ranma and Ranko were in the bath!!"

	"So why are you gonna kill them?"

	"Because they surprised me!!" She shouted. Ranma and Ranko walked out
of into the room.

	"It's not what you think!" Ranko said quickly. "We didn't do anything."

	"Sorry 'bout that." Ranma blushed as he saw Akane and looked at the
ground.


	Everyone had gathered around the table. "I think I'll let my old friend
explain it." Soun pointed at Genma.

	"I'm Saotome Genma, and this is my son Saotome Ranma and-" Genma was
interupted by Ranma.

	"Don't even think about calling her your daughter!! "Ranma shouted.
Ranko glared at Genma, obviously expressing similar sentiments. Neither Ranko
nor Ranma thought of each other as siblings, not even boyfriend and
girlfriend. They were more then that, the closest thing would be husband and
wife.

	Genma gulped. "And uhh.. Ranko."

	"What's her family name?" Interrupted Nabiki.

	"Let him explain." Soun told his daughter, Nabiki looked at him a
moment then nodded.

	"I should probably start with my curse first." Genma said sadly,
ignoring the Tendo girls shocked looks. Ranma dumped a glass of water on
Genma, who suddenly turned into a large panda. ^You see?^ was painted on the
wooden sign Genma held up.

	Ranma picked up the story. "It all started when we went to China..."

	During the next fifteen minutes Ranma told them about the cursed
springs and what had happened. After which everybody yelled at Genma for
taking Ranma to such a place. Ranma would have happily joined in the fun, but
he was off in a corner talking to Ranko softly.

	"So when doused with hot water, you return to human form!" Soun poured
water from a kettle on Genma who changed back to human.

	"Well it needn't be quite that hot!" Genma said in pain.

	Soun ignored Genma and turned to where Ranma was speaking to Ranko.
"You however are always human right?" Ranma nodded. "Well your problem isn't
that bad then! My daughter Kasumi, Nineteen. Nabiki, seventeen. And Akane,
sixteen. Pick the one you want. She's your fiancé!" He said happily. Everyone
stared at him in horror (with the exception of Genma). While Ranma and Ranko
were still trying to figure how he intended to marry Ranma to one of his
daughters when Ranma was already involved with someone, Nabiki and Kasumi
realized this was their father. And being such, no small thing like Ranma
being practically married already would stop him.

	"Oh he wants Akane!" Kasumi said quickly.

	"Oh, definitely!" Nabiki added.

	"You must be joking! Why would I be-" Akane started.

	"It's your job as the only martial artist in the Tendo family to carry
on the dojo!" Nabiki said smoothly.

	"And since Ranma is already very good you won't have to worry about any
challenges that come the dojo's way." Kasumi added.

	"He's already messing around with Ranko! Why should I even be obligated
to marry him?" Akane said, trying to get out of this.

	The words somehow snapped Ranma and Ranko out of their shock. "We
haven't done anything!" Ranko shouted.

	"Then what were you doing in the bath together?" Akane challenged.

	"We can't be away from each other...." Ranma grew quiet. "It hurts when
we do. That's part of this whole thing. We have to be close."

	Akane was subdued but still upset. "Well your a pervert then! You
looked at my body!"

	"Hey!" Ranma said angrily "You walked in on us! It's not my fault you
didn't knock. Heck Ranko even put the 'occupied' sign up!"

	Akane sputtered incoherent words out before thinking of something to
say. "Well your still a pervert! Your in love with some curse." Ranma suddenly
slapped Akane. It wasn't a hard slap, but it more then got his meaning across.

	"Ranko is not a curse. Never say that again." Ranma glared at Akane
angrily. Ranko's eyes were tearful and she was staring at the ground as Ranma
put his arms around her. "Come on Ranko, well go find a place to stay
somewhere else." Soun's face had gone white, but he could not blame the boy
for slapping his daughter. Ranko was human and had feelings, to belittle her
like that... it wasn't right.

	Akane held a hand to her cheek. He had just slapped her! Her, Akane
Tendo!! Nobody slapped her and got away with it! She was ready to use the
table and bash Ranma but she saw him holding Ranko. Ranko was quietly sobbing
into his shirt.

	"I'm sorry Ranma, I know I cause you trouble. I'm sorry I'm here. I'm
sorry." Ranko continued crying, her tears soaking his shirt. Her small frame
shook with her quiet sobs.

	"Shhhhh... It's alright Ranko-chan. I want you here. I love you. I'm
glad your here. Shhh..." Ranma gently held her to himself and continued to
reassure her he loved her and was happy she was here. Akane took a step
towards them and Ranma glared at her.

	"I'm sorry Ranko." Akane said quietly and ran upstairs, in tears
herself.

	Nabiki glared at Ranma and Ranko. Someone had just struck her family.
They would pay. Kasumi seemed to notice Nabiki's look and walked over to her.
"No Nabiki. Akane deserved that."

	"But.."

	"Nabiki." Kasumi's voice had risen just barley above normal but
coming from Kasumi it was enough to silence her sister. "You will not do
anything to harm the Saotomes, and that includes Ranko." She gave her sister
a serious, yet motherly, look.

	Nabiki sighed. "Alright." '_I_ won't hurt them, I'll get someone else
to do it.' She added silently.

	Soun stepped forward towards the couple. "Ranko, I am truly sorry. My
daughter spoke in anger. She didn't consider her words. Feel free to stay as
long as you wish." Ranko raised her tear filled eyes from Ranma's shirt.

	"I know she didn't, it just hurts so much..." Ranko burst into tears
again.

	"Thank you Tendo-san." Ranma picked up Ranko gently. "Where is the
spare room?"

	"First door on your left." He said, smiling at the couple. Ranma
carried Ranma upstairs. Soun noticed Genma following. "The room is small my
friend, you can sleep in mine."

	"You don't understand!" Genma said, eyeing the disappearing couple
nervously. "I NEED to be in there." Soun blinked as he caught his meaning.

	"But they were in the bath alone weren't they?" Soun was confused.

	"I made them promise not to do anything when they bathe... My boy will
no doubt become a man if I don't hurry." Genma raced upstairs.

	Kasumi and Nabiki both knew that their father would take this as news
Ranma could still be won. They felt sorry for Akane.


	Later that night Nabiki was laying in her room thinking about
everything that had happened. 'So Ranko has all of Ranma's memories, but from
a female perspective. She seems a little starved for female company, but only
friend-wise.' When Nabiki first heard about the spring's curses she thought
Ranko might still be male mentally, and thus be attracted to other girls.
After observing her for a while Nabiki decided Ranko only liked men. Now for
Ranma. 'He definitely is attracted to girls, the way he was looking at
Ranko...' Nabiki suddenly wondered if a boy would ever look at her like that.
She shook herself out of it and picked up her previous train of though. 'He's
also more then a little sexist, he thought Akane wanted to spar with him and
was about to turn it down flat.' At least she thought he was going to... it
was kinda hard to tell from his expression. 'He is very protective of Ranko
and will probably carry a grudge about what Akane did.' She thoughtfully
tapped her fingernails on the wall. 'They said it hurts them to be apart... I
wonder just what apart means. Hurts them to be apart...' Nabiki's eyes
flashed. She knew how to get revenge, smiling she went to sleep.



	"Ranma!" Ranko glared at the sleeping figure. Why did he have to be
such a heavy sleeper? "Ranma if you don't get up right now you'll be sorry!!"
She was about to punch him when Genma sat up and socked Ranma's head
automatically adjusting his aim as Ranma moved to unconsciously dodge the
punch.

	"Darn kids lemmie sleep..." Genma grumbled and went back to sleep.

	"Aww man. Morning already?" Ranma yawned and looked up at Ranko. "Hey
Ranko-chan, feeling better?" Ranko smiled at him.

	"Yup! Let's go practice!" She dragged Ranma out of the room but he
latched onto the door frame at the last second.

	"Hey! I'm still in my boxers!" He shouted.

	"Oh, sorry." Ranko smirked at him.


	Kasumi woke up and smiled. It was the first time in a while she would
be able to cook for guests. Quickly slipping into her normal clothing, Kasumi
walked downstairs humming. On to the way to the kitchen she stopped humming
and listened. Someone was in the front yard. 'Oh my, the Saotomes must be
early risers, that's nice.' Smiling she opened the door and looked outside.
Ranma and Ranko were each performing a complex kata, their forms moving
together. Each wore a red Chinese shirt and loose black pants, their facial
expressions almost mirroring each other. Each kick and punch was graceful and
perfectly balanced, their forms moving at the same speed. Their movements
were identical to such an extent the their pony tails bounced back and forth
nearly together. Caught up in the sight Kasumi watched for a while, then she
noticed the only thing... things moving out of sync. "Ranko! Why aren't you
wearing a bra?" Startled, the two looked over at Kasumi.

	Ranko looked down at her chest. "Why? They don't move around that
much." Ranma coughed  nervously, he didn't really want to be hearing this
conversation.

	'Oh my, and people think I'm naive?' "They move around enough Ranko.
Besides, it's not proper!" Kasumi scolded her gently.

	Ranko saw Ranma's embarrassed look and grinned. "Well Ranma doesn't
seem to mind." Ranma made a choking noise and spun around, putting his back to
Ranko. "Aww.. Don't be mad. Besides you should never leave an OPENING!" She
leapt at him as she said the last word. Wrapping her legs and arms around his
torso. Ranma's arms were pinned to his side as he jumped around trying to get
her off.

	"Hey! That's cheating!" Ranma said laughingly.

	"Nyahhhhhh!!!!" Ranko put her head over his shoulder and stuck her
tongue out at him. Ranma looked at her face and grinned, jumping into the
pond. Several laughs and loud splashes later they both emerged smiling. "Ack,
thanks alot Ranma! Now we gotta go take a bath." Still laughing she walked
into the house, not noticing that Ranma was stopped by Kasumi. "Whoops, guess
we really shouldn't be walking in the house soaking wet ne? Not very polite
to our hosts." She said, not looking back. Smiling she stepped into the room
and started to strip, then paused. Something was missing. "Ranma?" She spun
around, her voice sacred. "Ranma?" She felt herself starting to panic. 'It's
alright, he's still here, he just went to get us some spare clothes.
Everything's alright.' She took several deep breaths, attempting to calm
herself. 'Where is he? Where's Ranma?' She started to shake. "Ranma." She
said loudly. Not getting a response she tried a little louder. "Ranma?!" She
slid to the floor. "Ranma!!" She couldn't shout as loud as she wanted to, her
voice came out like a whisper. Ranko curled up into a ball her eyes wide.
"Ranma...."

	Ramna followed Ranko smiling and he started to enter the house, only to
be stopped by Kasumi. "Yes Kasumi?" Ranma's smile started to fade as Ranko
continued to walk, not noticing that he had stopped.

	"Ranma-kun do you really have to bathe with her? It's not right."
Kasumi had just started her lecture.

	"Ranko..." Ranma said quietly as she walked out of his sight. Ranma
started to get edgy.

	"I know you both suffered from that horrible curse, but your nearly
adults and shouldn't bathe together. If you were married it would be a differ-
Ranma what's wrong?" Kasumi looked at him, his face had gone white.

	"Ranko!" He tried to shout the name but his throat was tight with fear.
Moving forward he tried to shove past Kasumi. "Ranko!!"

	Kasumi was confused. 'Ranko? What about her?' Ranma tried to shove
her to the side but he didn't seem to be able to gather the strength. She
heard him whisper Ranko's name again and try to get past her. 'Oh my! What's
wrong with him?' Ranma suddenly lost all power in his legs. Not giving up his
face twisted as he attempted to stand, he had to get to Ranko. His mouth
formed Ranko's name as he tried to force himself to move. Frightened Kasumi
looked around for somebody to help her but it was still very early in the
morning and no one was up. She quickly went to Genma's room in hopes that he
could help. "Saotome- san!" She said loudly as she opened the door. The man
groaned and flipped over. "Saotome-san, Ranma's in trouble! He was just
saying Ranko's name then he collapsed." There was no response for a moment
then the figure in the bed sat up quickly.

	"Not agian!" He grabbed Kasumi's shoulders, careful not to hurt her.
"Where are they?"

	"Ranma is downstair-" Kasumi was looking at air. She heard the door
slam shut behind her.


	Genma raced leapt down the stairs taking them five at a time. He saw
Ranma passed out on the floor and swore. 'How could it have gotten this bad
so quickly?' Moving quickly he grabbed Ranma and tossed him on the couch.
"Ranko!" He called out, running outside. He glanced around quickly, where was
she? Genma ran back inside to check on Ranma. He was shaking badly. "No!
Ranma, Ranko's fine! Stay calm." Kasumi walked back downstairs. "Kasumi!
Where's Ranko!?"

	"She said something about taking a bath I th-" She found herself
talking to air again. 'That isn't to nice, but if he's just trying to help
Ranma I can understand.' Forcing a smile she started making breakfast, if she
couldn't help Ranma she could at least do something useful.

	Genma ran into the bathroom full speed and nearly slammed into the
wall. Regaining his balance he picked up Ranko and ran back into the living
room, throwing Ranko on top of Ranma. There was no reaction at first, then the
two latched on to each other. Kasumi silently walked out of the kitchen and
watched as the two slowly stopped shaking. After the shaking stopped they
silently held each other and fell asleep. Genma heaved a sigh of relief.

	"Got to them in time." He looked at the two thoughtfully. He had been a
lot of thinking since Jusenkyo, and ever so slowly Genma began to realize that
running away wasn't the best idea... although he still considered it a good
one. 'They came so close, just a little more and-' He shuddered and fought the
urge to leave his son and his... wife? Deciding to leave that question for
another day he considered the problem at hand. "Kasumi, how did they get
separated? Ranma and Ranko never leave each other's side." Kasumi bowed her
head.

	"I just didn't think it was proper for them to take a bath together..."
She didn't know it would cause this much trouble.

	Genma let out a laugh, a little thing like that almost had them- He
stopped laughing. "It's okay Kasumi. Just don't do it again alright? They
need to be together." His tone became serious. "Always." Kasumi nodded and
went back into the kitchen, grateful no harm had been done.


	Ranma awoke to a crushing sensation. "You dummy I thought you were
gone! Where'd you go?" Ranko was almost screaming at him, but she didn't seem
to be angry.

	Ranma gently forced Ranko's arms to lighten their grip. "Kasumi didn't
want us to bathe together and was asking me about it, you didn't notice I'd
stopped though and kept walking." He smiled and put his arms around her.

	"Oh. Alright. Just try not to let her do that again." Ranko lay her
head against Ranma's chest, content. Each of them started to doze off again
when a rather loud voice interrupted the peaceful room.

	"What are you doing!?!" Akane shouted at the couple on the couch, who
instantly sat up and moved away from each other. Akane glared at the sight.
Both looked like they had been through a fight and Ranko's shirt was half off.

	"N-nothing!" Ranma said quickly. Ranko nodded her head furiously in
agreement.

	"It sure didn't look like nothing!" Akane glared at Ranma, wondering
where she had put her mallet.

	Ranko suddenly felt irritated. Akane hadn't believed a word Ranma had
said since they had arrived and now she was shouting at them? "What does it
matter if we were? Do you like him or something?"

	Akane glared at Ranko, she wasn't about to lose this argument. "Maybe I
do!"

	"Good becau-" Ranko broke off realizing what Akane had said. "WHAT!?"
Ranma could only stare dumbly. Had Akane just said she like him?

	"Uhh.. that is..." Akane blushed, she really didn't plan to say
anything like that. Ranma was handsome but she didn't like him... yet.

	"I'm so happy! Our families will be joined!!" Soun announced appearing
out of the hallway closet.

	"Father?!" Akane squeaked out. This was not good, not good at all.

	"Now that you've proclaimed your love for him there's no need to wait!
The weddings tonight!" Soun was dancing around the room.

	"I never said I loved him!! I didn't even say I liked him!!" Akane
shouted, however her father wouldn't calm down until Kasumi spoke to him...
for an hour. After that it was time for school and nobody had eaten. Ranma
and Ranko were in the process of happily waving goodbye to Akane and Nabiki
when their father shoved a book bag into each of their hands.

	"Wha'?" They looked at Genma blankly.

	"Well we ARE going to be staying a while." Genma explained. This
confused them even more.

	Ranma sighed. "Alright pop. Let's go Ranko." He knew Ranko wanted to go
to school, he didn't understand why though. Ranko smiled happily at him and
they followed Akane and Nabiki out the door.

	Akane glared at Ranma and Ranko. They were walking ON the fence.
'Showoffs.' She mentally snarled. "Were not getting married you know!" Akane
called up to Ranma, who looked confused. Of course they weren't getting
married, why would Akane even consider it?

	"Well duh! The only person I'd even considering marrying is Ranko."
He said. Ranko beamed happily and jumped over Ranma, landing on the fence
ahead of him.

	"Thank you Ranma." She hugged him. Ranma just smiled, he knew she was
still feeling a little insecure with all the talk about the 'curse' and her
existence so he took every chance he got to make her feel better.

	"Why don't you two get a room?" Akane frowned at the two. Nabiki
mentally made some quick adjustments to her plan and started running.

	"I just remembered something I gotta do, see you guys later." Nabiki
called out as she ran. The other just continued walking in silence. Once as
they passed an old woman washing her sidewalk Ranma shivered.

	"What's wrong Ranma?" Ranko asked, concerned.

	"I dunno. Just a sudden chill." He shrugged then lashed out a foot to
sweep Ranko off the fence. Laughing she flipped over and tried to land on him,
but he had dodged. Akane stared in awe as the two sparred on the fence top,
pulling off incredibly dangerous moves yet remaining on the fence. She shook
herself out of it.

	"We're going to be late!!" Akane yelled and started running. Ranma
and Ranko blinked several times then hopped to the ground ahead of Akane and
ran too. As they approached the school a large mob of boys appeared and
charged the trio. Ranma and Ranko were both confused. Why were they attacking
them? But being confused didn't stop them from fighting.

	Akane watched helplessly as the two martial artists tore threw her
crowd of admirers. Silently she waited for one or two to find their way
through, but none did. She was a little disappointed. Then she got angry. "Why
did you go and do that? I can take care of mysel-"

	"Truly such a boorish lot. Evidently each of them intends to ask you
out Akane. On the dawn that he finally defeats you." a man dressed in kendo
garb smelled a rose in his hand. Then tossed it to Akane.

	"Hello sempai." Akane sighed unhappily, catching the rose.

	"You are surely rejoicing. For I have come to rid you of your fiancé!"
The man turned towards Ranma, a scowl on his face.

	"Did you hear that?" One of the girls in the crowd said.
	"Akane how could you? You said you hate men!" Another called out.
	"Ohhh he's engaged? Why do you always get the best guys Akane?" A girl
pouted. Akane found herself being yelled at for 'hogging the cute ones'.

	"Hey! I didn't do anything he's already got a girlfriend!" Akane
pointed at Ranko, who blushed.

	"There's no way we can compete with someone like that!" A girl cried in
despair.
	"Red hair, blue eyes, and huge bre-"
	"Asuka! Shutup! We can see!"
	Ranko turned several shades brighter and stared at the ground.

	Kuno was still yelling at Ranma. "Peasant! Did you truly believe that
I would allow your engagement to Akane?" He swung a bokken threateningly. "Ah
but I have you at an advantage Ranma Saotome. My name is upperclassmen Kuno.
Junior group E. Undefeated new star of the high school fencing world. But my
peers call me... The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" A bolt of lighting came
out of the suddenly cloudy sky behind Kuno. Ranma wished he knew that
technique. "Now prepare to die!!!" He rushed at Ranma, swinging the bokken.
Ranma easily dodged the strike.

	"Here, hold my bag for a sec." Ranma tossed his backpack to Ranko (who
caught it without looking away from the ground). "I am Ranma Saotome, heir to
the Anything Goes Martial Arts Dojo. And I accept your challenge." Smiling
confidently he took a loose offensive stance, his back to a concrete wall.

	"Silence fool!" Kuno charged at him and Ranma leapt out of the way
again. The wall behind him didn't do so well, it now had a large crack in it.
Seeing Ranma wasn't there Kuno spun and saw Ranma landing against the side of
a tree. "Blast!" Kuno cried in frustration and lashed out again, slicing the
top of the tree off. Ranma landed several meters away from Kuno, unharmed.

	"Just to let you know-" Ranma was suddenly up in Kuno's face "Akane
means nothing to me!"

	'This peasant is truly a good fighter.' Kuno thought, startled at
Ranma's speed. The crowd watching had similar thoughts running through their
minds... minus the peasant bit.

	"If you want an uncaring, untrusting, chick with a temper like her you
can have her!" Ranma shouted.

	"Pervert!" Akane threw her bookbag at him.

	"Why am I a pervert now?" Ranma asked as he dodged out of the way.

	"Speaking ill of Akane? I forbid it!" Kuno's bokken sliced through the
air where Ranma had stood a moment ago, destroying Akane's book bag. When he
looked away from the spot he saw Ranma coming through the air at him, two
fingers pointing straight at him. Smiling confidently he thrust forward with
his blade.

	Seeing the blade coming a little to close to his neck for comfort
Ranma pivoted, changing the position of his body so he would still be able to
attack Kuno but wouldn't get near the bokken. He also made a mental note to
thank Ranko for training with him, without the increased speed he picked up
thanks to her he would have never been able to dodge the sword like this.

	Kuno frowned when Ranma completely dodged his strike. He didn't have
time to follow up however as Ranma's foot kicked him in the face, knocking him
unconscious.


	Kuno stared into the mirror. On his forehead 'Pervert' was written in
Kanji. "Amazing, you don't even remember being touched?" Nabiki was upset that
Kuno had failed in even hitting Ranma, much less hurting him. 'Oh well, just
have to get Kuno baby to try again.' Kuno was muttering something about Ranma
spelling pervert wrong. "Hey Kuno baby!" He stopped his rant and looked at
Nabiki.

	"Yes?"

	"Now that Ranma defeated you, he's going to believe he can just marry
Akane. You never know, he might even marry her tonight." She smirked as she
saw him stand up.

	"I will not allow it!!" Kuno yelled, already on his way out when the
teacher yelled at him.


	The teacher looked down at the paper in his hands. "Well it does seem
to be true that you and Miss..." He blinked. What? This child didn't have a
family name? He looked at Ranko curiously. The girls in the class were busy
looking at Ranma and didn't notice.

	"Ranko Kouonji." She said. Where did she get that name from? Oh well
she'd figure it out later. The male portion of the class drooled.

	"That you and Miss Kouonji were in China until recently." He
completed his previous sentence. "However that does not change the fact that
both of you and Akane Tendo were late for class. Stand in the hall." Akane
had a very faint angry blue glow to her as she grabbed her buckets and walked
out, followed by Ranma and Ranko (minus the blue glow).

	Ranma saw Akane was mad and ignored her. "Man, whadda ya' think all
those guys were attacking us for?" He asked Ranko.

	Ranko shrugged. "I dunno. I was wondering how that Kuno guy knew your
name."

	"They weren't attacking you." Akane said quietly.

	"Huh?" Ranma turned to look at Akane.

	"Kuno made an announcement that whoever wants to go out with me has to
beat me up first." She frowned. "I don't want you doing that again! I can take
care of myself!"

	"Geez Akane, I didn't know! I thought they were trying to attack Ranko
and me." Ranma said defensively. Akane just frowned at him.

	"You fight Kuno EVERY morning?" Ranko asked Akane. She, like Ranma,
wasn't one to carry a grudge and as such yesterday's incident was already
forgotten.

	"Yeah, and for some reason I always win." Akane sounded a little
surprised. Not much but a little.

	"A guy lets up a lot when he fights a girl." Ranma said casually.

	"Don't underestimate me! Try me for real sometime." Akane said, glaring
at him.

	'Man, is she ever not angry?' Ranma wondered, over looking the fact
that it was partially his fault. "No way. Your a girl, and I don't fight
girls." He avoided thinking about last nights incident. That wasn't really a
fight, but he had hit her. He still felt uneasy about that.

	"You fight with Ranko!" Akane pointed at her, also trying not to think
about what had happened the night before.

	"Even when my hits do connect they're lighter then feathers. The only
reason I even do that is cause she's as good as me." Ranma winked at Ranko who
smiled at him in thanks.

	Akane looked at Ranko. "Doesn't that make you mad? That's he's holding
back on you?"

	Ranko shook her head. "Not really, I think it's sweet. Besides, it just
means I get to beat him every now and again." She smirked.

	"SAOTOME!! I will never allow you to marry Akane!" Kuno yelled as he
ran down the halls towards Ranma.

	Classroom windows slid open and people looked into the hallway.

	"Akane! Your getting married?!" One of the girls shouted out.
	"Ohh your so lucky! I wish I could get a guy like him."
	"Aww man. Just one more day and I coulda beat her!" Said a male student.

	Ranma was denying everything. "Hey! I ain't marrying that uncute girl!
If I'm marrying anyone it's Ranko!" This was not the best thing he could have
said.

	"RANMA!!" Akane turned on him furiously.

	"You got two girls chasing you?"
	"That's no fair! Let us have one!" Cried another boy from the room.
	"Yeah, your the new guy!"
	"You can have Akane." One boy said. This started an argument over which
girl Ranma should get. Both Ranko and Akane started glaring at the group of
boys, who quickly shutup.

	Meanwhile Kuno had noticed Ranko. "Who is this fair goddess? Surely she
is worthy enough to date with me." He said poetically.

	Ranko glared at him. "Your not my type stick boy."

	"To deny your love for me it must surely be the work of a foul
sorcerer!" Kuno's mind looked for a sorcerer in the group. "Saotome! I shall
rid you of life for casting such a spell on both the fair Akane and the pig-
tailed girl!" Ranma blinked. Spells? Him? With a battle cry Kuno swung his
bokken at Ranma.

	"Ya shouldn't fight in places like this!" Ranma ducked under the swing
and used his leg to sweep Kuno off his feet. Ranko took advantage of the
situation and the last sight Kuno had was her fist. "Ranko...." Ranma said
wearily.

	"Whoops sorry about that." Ranko grinned at Ranma. "He doesn't like me
butting in on fights." She explained to Akane. Akane nodded, she could
understand that. Ranma turned away from the unconscious Kuno with a look of
disgust.

	"Comeon Ranko, lets go home." He leapt walked over to a nearby window
and leapt out.

	"This is the third story!" Cried Akane as she ran to watch Ranma's
decent.

	"It's no problem he's a martial artist." Ranko said, then leapt out the
window. Akane stared in shock as Ranma twisted around before he hit the ground
and landed on his feet. Looking up Ranma saw Ranko getting ready to do the
same, but jumped up and caught her in his arms.

	"Hey Akane, your a martial artist right?" Said a girl who had watched
the whole scene.

	"Yeah." Akane replied, still in shock.

	"Can you do that?" Akane only shook her head in respone.


	"Ranma, we probably shouldn't have cut on our first day of school."
Ranko wasn't upset at Ranma, but she was kinda curious about how much trouble
they'd get in. Ranma and her were in their room.

	"I know, sorry. I just didn't wanna have to deal with it any more."
Ranma looked over to where Ranko was lying on her mattress. "But were alone
and pop isn't around, that's a plus." Ranma added, hoping Ranko wasn't upset
at him.

	"Ranma?" Ranko said quietly, turning on her side to look at him.

	Was it getting hotter in here? "Yeah?"

	"Do you want to....?" She trailed off, not being able to bring herself
to say the rest.

	Ranma swallowed. "You sure?"

	She smiled and nodded. "We've been trying for the past month and with
all this fiance craziness this is the only thing that can get them away. I
know it's not quite as romantic as we wanted." she slowly rose to her feet
and walked to where Ranma was leaning against the wall.

	Ranma smiled, nervousness gone, and put his hands on her hips. "Maybe
we'll even finish for once." Leaning forward he placed his lips against
Ranko's, any worries that remained vanishing. Ranko opened her mouth enough to
let his tongue find hers. She slid her arms around his neck as he lowered her
to his mattress. Ranko smiled up at Ranma and moved her arms to his back,
pulling him closer to her. Each paused for a moment.

	"I think it's for real this time Ranchan." Ranko looked up at Ranma,
eyes shining.

	Slowly he bent down and kissed her lips, then her cheek. He started to
work his way down to her neck when a sound made them both freeze.

	"Meow" Repeated a small kitten from a cage attached to the ceiling.
It had been in there for hours, and although it had more then enough food and
water it was bored. It had silently watched the pair below it until they had
began wrestling, it wanted to play too! It began to meow loudly, thinking
that they didn't hear it the frist time. Ranma slowly turned his head to the
ceiling and saw the hanging cage, and the animal in it. Both Ranma and Ranko
ran screaming from the room.


	When Genma came home from a job interview he found two very angry
martial artists waiting for him... two very angry, very skilled martial
artists. "It *oomph* was for your own *snap* good!!" Cried Genma as Ranma and
Ranko pummeled him.

	"Scaring the wits out of us!?" Ranko asked as she gave Genma another
flying kick.

	"Ranma *crack* must marry Akane! The Saotome and Tendo clans must be
joined!" Genma gasped in relief when the two stopped their attack. They were
staring at him.

	"How the hell do you expect me to marry Akane-" Ranma began.

	"When he's already in love with-" Ranko paused

	"Ranko!" Ranma added. This was an old routine, but it helped to remind
his father about the bond between them. Ranma really couldn't read Ranko's
thoughts (nor she his) but Genma didn't know that.

	"Don't do that!" Yelled Genma at the two. That always unnerved him.
"For honor you must Ranma, there is no choice." Both Ranma and Ranko stopped
smiling at this. If there was anything they held dearly (besides each other)
it was honor. Ranma's face lost it's light and Ranko visibly drooped.

	Ranma's mind was spinning. 'He-he's right. The honor of the entire
family rests on this. For me to accept...' Ranma looked over at Ranko she was
staring heart broken at the ground. He knew she had just thought the same
thing.

	"Damn you pop." Ranma said sadly. Ranko's eyes shimmered with tears,
she knew they didn't have a choice, Ranma would have to marry Akane. Ranma
picked up Ranko and jumped from roof to roof until they were far out of
Genma's sight.

	"I did the right thing." Genma said aloud. "I did." He repeated
desperately to himself, but he wasn't convinced. Somehow Genma's conscious
had crawled out of it's cage and reminded him what it was like to be in love.
Genma knew he would back down soon, he couldn't hold up against the anguish
in both Ranma's and Ranko's face for long. There was only one thing left to
do. Genma Saotome walked inside to call his wife.


	"What are we going to do?" Ranma and Ranko sat underneath a small
bridge. Both watched the water intently as they spoke.

	"I don't know Ranko. I gotta do it, but I don't see how I can. I can't
even think about living without you." He turned his eyes away from the river
and stared into Ranko's blue eyes.

	She looked back at him with a watery gaze. Ranma might not be
allowing himself to cry but the hurt was obvious. "I wish we could just run
away from all this." But she didn't, she had every bit of pride Ranma did,
she wouldn't run away from anything. That didn't mean she wasn't hurt though.
With a cry of despair and grief she threw her arms around Ranma. Ranma didn't
have any comforting words this time though, it was all he could do to keep
from crying himself. He gently cradled Ranko in his arms, eyes squeezed
tightly closed. What could be said? What could they do? Ranma would have
given anything to know the answer.


	Ranma and Ranko came back to the Tendo household late that night.
Everyone was just finishing dinner but that was quickly forgotten. Ranko was
a mess, her eyes were red and her ponytail was frayed. Both of their clothes
had smears of mud on them and the front of Ranma's shirt looked damp. But the
most jarring aspect was Ranma's eyes. His eyes shone with a self hatred, yet
that was countered by the caring look for Ranko. He silently looked at every
person seated. Soun saw respect and a little bit of anger in Ranma's eyes.
Kasumi only saw Ranma's pain. Everyone else saw nothing except his flat gaze.
Everyone else besides Genma. He saw a cold burning anger. Not hatred, not
yet, but anger. The kind that kills, and it was directed at him. Ranma's eyes
closed for a moment and Ranko gave his hand a final squeeze before removing
it from his. Tears started to roll down her face as Ranma spoke. "I will
uphold the family honor and marry your daughter." Ranko started straight
ahead, eyes unblinking as tears streaked down her face, gently splashing
against the wooden floor. Ranma looked like he wanted to die.

	Genma said nothing, he wanted to find some cold water and go panda. At
least he wouldn't have to deal with this. Soun was overjoyed, but Kasumi's
frown was more then enough to shock him still. Nabiki and Akane were struck
dumb. "Wha- bu- why?" Akane finally managed to make her mouth form a word.

	Ranma sneered at his father. "Honor." With that he and Ranko walked
upstairs. The family remained motionless for long moments after.

^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^
~Syithe
ssauthor@hotmail.com
http://members.xoom.com/Syithe__/archive.html

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From: syithe@my-dejanews.com
Subject: [Ranma][FanFic]  Love and Honor: Chapter 2 - Tear and Mend

			Love and Honor
		Chapter Two: Tear and Mend


	Nabiki flipped over in her bed again, facing the clock. 2:45, just
great. If she didn't get to sleep soon she wouldn't be waking up
tomorrow. But she couldn't go to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes
she saw Ranko. While everyone had been looking at Ranma, she had been
one of the few to glance at Ranko long enough to see her eyes. And now
she was sorry she had. She had seen only seen an equivalent pain once,
in Kasumi when Mother had died. At the time she would have done anything
to make that pain go away, but she hadn't been able to. Nobody had.
Sighing she stared at the ceiling. Nabiki did NOT like Ranma much. He
had hit her sister, which was a big no-no. However, she didn't dislike
Ranko. She was a lot like Akane in some ways. Tomboyish, into martial
arts, and nice enough once you got to know her. She didn't deserve to be
in pain like that, Ranma might, but not her. Maybe she could help her
somehow, help her like she couldn't help her sist- "Sister?" Nabiki sat
up. That was it! She checked herself, much to early to talk to Dad. With
her inner turmoil gone Nabiki swiftly fell asleep.


	Ranma grunted and tried to re-adjust himself. He hadn't slept alone in
a long time. He glared at the sleeping panda for a moment. Stupid old
man. An arranged marriage? What was he thinking?

	"Ranma... You asleep?" Ranko's voice whispered.

	"Uh uh."

	"Me either... Ranma do you think it would be all right if we sleep
together again. Just this last time?"

	It probably wasn't, but at the moment Ranma didn't care. He started to
get up when a sign (reading "Don't even think about it") hit him.
Muttering Ranma flipped onto his side and tried to go back to sleep.
Ranko sighed.


	"Ranko!" Nabiki called out to the redhead. Ranko looked over and due to
the distraction was nudged into the pond.

	"Ranma you jerk!" Ranko tried to tackle him but he laughingly dodged.
She pointed behind him "SHAMPOO!!" Ranma froze then spun his head
around, seeing nothing at first but then getting a close up of the
ground. Ranko lowered her foot from kicking position. "Honestly Ranma,
your soooo gullible sometimes." He started to respond but Ranko giggled
and ignored him. She walked up to the middle Tendo sister.

	Nabiki looked at her closely. She had seemed happy enough while
training, but now she was quickly getting depressed again. Her shoulders
even slumped a little. "I think I might have found a way so that Ranma
doesn't have to marry my sister."

	"Really?" Ranko's eyes shined with hope. "You mean it, your not kidding
or 'nuthing?"

	"Nope. And I'm not even gonna charge you for this one." She smiled at
the girl.

	Ranko wasn't sure about the 'charge' bit but at the moment she didn't
care. "How?"

	"I don't want to talk about right now. We'll do it after school."

	Ranko smiled happily and hugged Nabiki, startling her. "Thank you!"

	Nabiki awkwardly hugged Ranko back then stepped away from the embrace.
She hadn't hugged anyone (or been hugged) in years. She smiled, Ranko
would make an excellent sister.


	Akane listened to Ranko and Ranma happily chatting on the fence. They
had been like this all morning, and Akane was very confused. She had no
idea why both of them were so happy. Akane didn't want to marry Ranma,
and she was pretty sure he didn't want to marry her. Then why the heck
were they so happy?! "Ranma!"

	Ranma paused and looked down at Akane. "Yeah?" Ranko almost took
advantage of the distraction to knock him off the fence, but decided
against it.

	"Why are you so happy? Don't you remember that we have to get
MARRIED?!" She snarled at him. Sure it wasn't his fault per se but she
needed somebody to vent on.

	Ranma blinked innocently. "Oh, nobody told you? Nabiki figured out a
way we didn't have to!"

	Akane was stunned. "Really?"

	Ranko smiled and grabbed Ranma. "Uh huh! That means you don't have to
marry him and *I* can!" She gave Ranma a glomp that would have done an
Amazon proud.

	"How?"

	Ranko shrugged her shoulders. "She said she'd tell us after school.
Comeon, we're gonna be late!" All three ran to school.

	Kuno watched as his loves approached, along with that wretched Saotome!
He tightened his grip on his bokken. He would vanquish the fiend and
prove his love! "SAOTOME!" He called out his challenge and ran towards
Ranma.

	Ranma looked at the charging Kuno and smiled. "Sorry, I'm way too happy
to thrash you right now, I'll let Akane do it." Ranma leapt onto Kuno's
head, then off of it again. The resulting force propelled the challenger
face first into the ground. Ranko leapt nimbly over him and continued
after Ranma while Akane decided that he had got enough of a beating for
one day and walked around him. Nabiki found him next. She stood there
for a second, as if thinking, then took a couple thousand yen from his
wallet and carted him off to the nurses.


	Ranko looked despairingly at Ranma. He was asleep. Again. This made the
fifth time he had fallen asleep in this class alone. She tore off a
little peace of paper and wadded it up. Wait for it.. The teacher turned
his back... NOW! She tossed it straight at him.

	Ranma sat up quickly, coughing. What had he just inhaled? Ranko (and
several other girls who had seen it) giggled at him and pointed towards
the board where the unobservant teacher was still writing. Ranma sighed
and tried to concentrate on school, all the while wondering what Ranko
found so great about it.


	"Did you really have to do that?" Ranma asked Ranko as they ate lunch.
She smiled and bobbed her head. "Really Ranma, what's so boring about
school? You get to learn all sorts of stuff."

	"You tell me how the insides of frogs are going to help in martial
arts." Ranma responded, munching on a sandwich thoughtfully provided by
Kasumi.

	"Well some types of frogs are poisonous." she said after a moment of
thinking.

	Ranma eyed her carefully. "Poison? What martial artist needs to use
POISON?"

	Ranko blushed, it was true. That would be fairly unhonorable. "It was
just an example!"

	He grinned at her. "Baka!" Then he leapt up into the tree, immediately
springing off of it and away.

	"What? Come here you!" She leapt after him.

	That resulted in a ten minute chase across school, then the town. Ranko
was faster then Ranma, not by a whole lot, but enough that she should be
able to catch him. Except for the fact Ranma was stronger then her. He
could always jump a little higher to reach the uppermost branch, or
shake off any momentary hold she managed to get. All in all it was a
fairly even round of 'kill the baka'. Finally Ranko managed to sprint
and send them both to the ground from a flying tackle. "I win!" She
bonked him on the head. Ranma laughed and kissed her, then they both lay
down. They weren't really paying much attention to where they were, but
luckily for them they had ended the chase in a secluded area of the
park.

	"Ranma?" Ranko asked as she snuggled into him.

	"Huh?" He looked down into Ranko's blue eyes.

	"Promise you'll marry me."

	"Of course I'll marry you." Ranma was confused, why would she even ask
such a thing? "How could I marry anyone else?"

	She pouted. "Promise it Ranma!"

	Ranma gave in. "Aww geeze don't give me that look. Okay I promise
already!" He gave an exasperated mental sigh. "Females." Now most would
argue that Ranma really didn't know all that many females and it would
be wrong to base his opinion off the only girl he knew. But then again
most of those people would be women. The men were more likely then not
to agree with him.

	Ranko smiled at him and pressed closely, causing Ranma to flush
slightly.

	"Ranko! Where not exactly alone here!" Truth be told he didn't care
that much what people thought about him, but he didn't want them saying
things about Ranko. Then again, if she didn't care either...

	"Aww you're no fun." Ranko arched her back and stretched, knowing
perfectly well what it would do seeing as Ranma was right next her
chest. Then she shot back quickly, face a bright red and an arm covering
her chest. "RANMA!!!!"

	The age old female battle cry of 'hentai!' rang through the park.
Followed by a tremendous crashing noise.


	The two made it back in time to finish the school day. For the rest of
the day whenever Ranko looked at Ranma she would blush a strawberry red
and glance away. This started speculation which was allowed three
periods of discussion before school was dismissed.

	The Tendo sister's walked home with Ranma and Ranko after school. "Just
what did Ranma do to you Ranko?" Nabiki asked, peering up at the two on
the fence.

	Ranko flushed a bright red for the thirty-seventh time that day.
"Nothing..."

	"Ranko! If I'm getting making it so Ranma can marry you, this is the
least you can do for me." The whole school wanted to know, this would
make her thousands!

	Ranma was doing the best not to look anywhere but his shoes. After all,
he couldn't be blamed for his actions right? It was just... just... an
accident. Yeah that's it.

	Ranko leaned down and whispered something in Nabiki's ear, who turned a
bright red and reflexively held an arm over her chest. She quickly
caught a hold of herself and lowered the arm. Under normal circumstances
she would think of something witty to say to or about Ranma, but was too
embarrassed about the whole thing and kept her mouth shut. Meanwhile
Akane stared at the two girls, vainly searching for a hint of what had
happened. Akane kept bothering Nabiki until she gave in and told her for
a small fee. They say that the person shaped crater is still there to
this day.


	A very bruised looking Ranma sighed and opened the door for Ranko (it
had taken several months to get him to do that). As the four entered
they found a strange woman there to greet them.

	Genma turned to Ranma and smiled. "Ranma, meet your mother!"

	"Mom?" Was all Ranma got in until he was caught in a firece hug.

	"My son has come home!" Nodoka released her son after a long moment and
inspected him. She smiled. "Okay Genma. Your off the hook."

	Genma sighed in relief.

	Nodoka then turned to Ranko, smiling brightly. "And I understand that I
have a daughter now?"

	Ranma and Ranko went through two stages. Pure revulsion at the idea,
then fury at Genma for saying something like that. He saw their glare
and cringed, he was still healing from the last beating. "Now dear,
remember I specifically said that-"

	"I know what you said my husband. But if they both have the memories of
Ranma, then that makes her my child. And being female it makes her my
daughter, which means that Ranma and Ranko are brother and sister."
Nodoka said smiling happily. Everybody was spontaneously sick.

	"Oh Ranma how could you betray Akane like that? With your own sister no
less!" Soun wept. Nabiki and Akane looked particularly sick, especially
knowing what had happened during the day.

	"No we are not brother and sister!" Ranma said firmly.

	Ranko shivered. "So very NOT brother and sister."

	Nodoka was confused. "Do you two not get along?"

	"No it's not that. It's just...." Ranko didn't know what else to say.

	"We're.. we're...." What the heck were they? Ranma hadn't actually
thought up an exact term. Just as he thought of what to say Kasumi
interrupted.

	"Oh my, Ranko couldn't be his sister. Ranko is his lover."


	After they had managed to pry the katana from Nodoka's hands and
convince Ranma and Ranko they weren't going to be killed everybody
gathered at the table to talk.

	"Look Auntie, they couldn't possibly be brother and sister. Could you
ever have had a child like Ranko? She's practically a foreigner. She has
pale almost white skin, red hair, blue eyes... it's a genetic
impossibility for her to be your daughter." Nabiki didn't want her soon
to be sister dead, or on bad terms with her (also soon to be)
mother-in-law.

	Nodoka considered it. "Maybe on the outside she is not. But on the
inside she is the same person as my son but what he would have been if
born female."

	Akane interrupted here, she didn't want Ranko to get hurt anymore
either. She was starting to actually like her (Ranma on the other
hand...). "But if that were true she would be the same as Ranma, but in
a dress. Our memories are what make us who we are right, so she would
still be the same. Ranko is different then him. She likes to go to
school, she's nice, she doesn't say stupid things, isn't a pervert,
doesn't call people uncute.." Akane was now glaring at Ranma as she
continued talking about how unalike Ranko was from Ranma.

	Nodoka finally got the point. "Very well Ranko, if you're so set
against being my daughter I won't force you. I just thought it would be
better then telling everyone you were born because of a curse." Ranko
flinched but said nothing. "In any case, I'm glad to find that
Kasumi-chan was mistaken when she said the two of you were lovers. That
would be very improper seeing as how Ranma is engaged to Akane dear
already." Nodoka understood now. Ranko wasn't her daughter, or even
anything close to a child. She was just some magical curse set to bother
her son, given his memories so she could try and seduce him.

	"About that whole engagement thing Daddy." Nabiki said to her father.
"The deal is that Ranma has to marry one of your daughters, namely us,
correct?"

	Soun nodded. "That's what we agreed on."

	"Well we know that Akane doesn't really want to marry Ranma." Akane
confirmed this rather passionately. "And that Ranma doesn't want to
marry her." He also agreed but didn't quite manage the level of disgust
Akane had put into her voice. "But we do know that there is someone he
want's to marry."

	Soun blinked. "Yes..?"

	"So all you have to do is adopt Ranko. Then everyone will be happy!"
Nabiki smiled brightly as did the rest of the teens. Genma had started
to smile but he saw the look on his wife's face.

	"No." Soun said firmly.

	"Absolutely impossible." Nodoka echoed.

	Nabiki's face fell. "But... why?"

	"That wasn't the agreement Nabiki." Soun's voice was oddly firm and
serious. "The Tendo and Saotome bloodlines were to be joined, not just
the name. It is in this union both of our schools will find true glory!
Isn't that right Saotome?"

	Genma grunted out something that sounded vaguely affirmative.

	"And there is no way I am going to allow my son to marry a... a side
effect of his training." There was a crack as the portion of the table
Ranko had been holding snapped under her hands. Nodoka saw the tears in
the gi- No THING'S eyes. "Please RANKO" She said the name as if it were
a curse. "Even if you were sincere in your affections towards my son,
you could never marry him. You have no mother or father, no family name,
you don't even have any memories except for those of my son's. I suggest
you go back to where you came from before you cause any more harms. I
fear my son may have already fallen in love with you."

	Everybody was stunned by the pure viscousness of Nodoka's speech. A
moment ago she had been willing to accept Ranko as her daughter, now she
was practically labeling her as a demon.

	For Ranko, her entire world had been crushed. A woman who she thought
she could love and find a mother in had just thrown every fear about
herself and her origin, every self-doubt, in her face. She knew if she
looked up she would see betrayal in Ranma's eyes. He would never trust
her, after all, she was just a curse. His mother's word would be
believed and he would abandon her. She didn't want to see that look.
"I-I'm sorry Ranma. I'll go now." She tried to stand but found she
couldn't move. Ranma had placed his arm across her lap, holding her
down.

	"You're not going anywhere Ranko-chan." His voice had a hard edge to
it. Nabiki recognized it as the same one he had used on Akane before he
had slapped her. "Even if it was true, even if you were just a curse
from Jusenkyo, I would still love you." He turned to his mother. "And
what right do you have to march in here and say what I should do? You
left me to be raised by POP for nearly my whole life. Do you know what
I've been through? Do you know who I am? Who gave you ANY RIGHT TO TELL
ME WHO TO LOVE?!" His battle aura had flickered into existence.

	"As your mother, you are honor bound to obey my wishes." Nodoka said
firmly, seemingly unaffected by the aura. Although outwardly calm,
inwardly she was crying. She had finally met her son and now they were
at each others throats. It was all because of that THING. She spared a
hateful glance at Ranko. "Besides, you were betrothed to Akane at birth.
What you wish does not matter, it is your honor which counts."

	Ranma had a rare moment of brilliance. "What if I were to say that I
had already promised Ranko that I would marry her?"

	"Akane's claim came first, making the later invalid."

	"Then my honor has no meaning?" He responded angrily.

	Nodoka frowned at him. She needed time to think. "I will leave you in
the Tendo's home and come back in a week. Hopefully by then you will
have come to your senses." She stood and left.

	Genma awkwardly shuffled to his feet. "I'll see if I can calm her down
boy, just take care of Ranko." He followed his wife out the door.


	Nodoka nearly walked a full block before she broke down crying. Genma
had managed to catch up by then and managed to hold her from falling. "I
ruined it!" Nodoka wept in his arms. "The first time I see Ranma since
he was a baby I get him mad at me. What kind of mother am I?"

	Genma was stressing any and all mental powers he possessed to say
something kind. "He's not upset, it's just that he's really protective
of Ranko."

	Nodoka face clouded with confusion at the name. "Just what is she? I
thought she would be like.. like a daughter! But then she's Ranma's
lover! Is she even human?" Looking back Nodoka realized she had started
off with Ranko on the wrong foot, which led to her not thinking with her
head but instead running off her anger. The thought of Ranko (who she
was thinking of as a daughter at the time) doing.. THAT with her son had
upset her. Then when she refused any kind of kinship it only made things
worse. Nodoka had always wanted a daughter..

	"She and Ranma haven't taken THAT step yet. I never let them. But they
do love each other.." He sighed, not all that good at these things, and
walked his wife to their home.



	Nabiki was looking blankly at the broken table. Ranma and Ranko had
left soon after Nodoka. Ranko running away with tears in her eyes and
Ranma following her. Her plan hadn't worked. It really hadn't even been
that complicated. Have Daddy adopt Ranko, then have Ranko marry Ranma.
Everyone would be happy. But no, Daddy had to stick to some old
agreement. She leveled a glare at him.

	Soun flinched under his middle daughter's look. "Now Nabiki I couldn't
really do anything could I? I mean it was the agreement." He trailed off
miserably and stared at the table. Ranko was such a nice girl, it was
too bad she had to go through all this. Luckily Kasumi entered and
everybody soon found themselves silently eating.


	Ranko ran heedless of obstacles. She didn't want it anymore. Just when
things seemed to be going right again, just when she had almost been
happy, it had all been ruined. Her own mother turned against her. Even
though she didn't feel that she was Nodoka's daughter. Nodoka was most
certainly her mother, the only mother she could remember. She didn't try
and understand it herself, all she knew was that not only did she lose
her mother, but she caused friction between Ranma and his. Her footsteps
made a barely audible noise as she ran across the pavement. She didn't
want any of it anymore. She knew Ranma was chasing her, but he was only
doing it out of pity. She was some monster, a curse. She wasn't even
supposed to exist. Something caught Ranko's attention. A way out. No
more pain for her, no more causing Ranma pain. It was closer. No more
having people turn away from her in disgust, no more of them fearing
that she was some kind of monster. Almost there. She wiped her tears
away and made the final dash. No more fear.

	Ranma ran with every bit of frantic speed and strength that Ranko was.
He knew if he could talk to her she would be all right, but he had to
get to her before she did something stupid. In most respects Ranko was
every bit as egotistical as he was, with an infallible confidence to
match. But in this one thing she was more vulnerable then a newborn.
Ranma didn't know what it would be like to have your existence
continually in question. To know that you were the by-product of a
curse. An accident. What he did know was that he wouldn't be able to
live without Ranko. His face paled as her pace picked up. She had found
something. "Ranko!" He tried to shout, but just breathing was taking a
good amount of effort now. They were reaching the town limits, the
forest could be seen ahead. But what could be in the forest? Ranko
turned slightly. A bridge. But that couldn't possibly be a far enough
drop to injure.. unless.. With a strength born of pure desperation he
increased his speed.

	Ranko leapt. It was a beautiful dive. Her slender body arched in the
night sky, the moonlight giving her hair a gentle gleam. Gracefully and
with barely a splash she disappeared far beneath the surface of the
water. Millions of bubbles all shapes and sizes rose from her lips.
'Goodbye Ranma...' She drew in water. Fighting the urge to choke she
continued to breathe in the liquid. No more betrayal. Nobody would turn
their backs to her anymore more, and more importantly Ranma would be
free. She felt darkness pressing in, the edges of her vision became
spark filled darkness. As her body tried to draw air from her water
filled lungs the darkness grew, moving towards the outside of her vision
to the center. Just before the darkness closed completely a flash of red
crossed her eyes. Darkness claimed her.


	It was warm. So warm. 'Is this it?' Ranko tried to look around, finding
she didn't see anything. She was fairly uncomfortable due to a rough
feeling surface underneath her and the front of her body felt like it
was covered with coarse fur. Not much of an after life she decided. Then
again, she should probably be happy she had one at all. As she began to
fully awaken she realized something. She was breathing. And it hurt. She
wasn't dead. Ranko's eyes flew open and she closed them painfully again.
After a moment she opened them slightly, squinting against the dim
light. As her eyes adjusted she realized she was in a cave. The roof was
low, only seven feet high at the most. She sat up and would have fallen
back down if somebody hadn't grabbed her in a hug, calling her name. She
looked up in shook to see Ranma holding her tightly to his chest, tears
running from his eyes. His face was pale and the skin around his skin
around the eyes had a baggy look that only came with extreme lack of
sleep. She found herself crying into his shirt also. "Dummy!" She said
weakly between sobs. "Why did you come after me?" He said nothing, only
continuing to hold her.



	When Ranko awoke a second time she managed to sit up without nearly
fainting. "Ranma?" She called out in a hoarse voice. There was no reply,
but she sensed him somewhere nearby. Struggling she crawled out from
under her blankets.. blankets? She looked at her coverings. They were
animal hides. Still tinged red from whatever animals had lost them. The
thought of some many dead animals sickened her for a moment and she
would have probably thrown up if not for the fact her stomach was empty.
VERY empty. She noticed several berries peeking out from underneath a
rock and started to go towards it, but nearly stumbled on some uneven
ground. She looked down to see what she had tripped over. "Ranma?" She
knelt down beside him and shook him a little. He didn't wake up. That
wasn't unusual though, it usually took more to wake him up. She shook
him harder. "Ranma! Wake up!" She called as loudly as she could, which
didn't come out over a normal voice level. She blinked. 'Why is his
shirt tied around his ribs?" With a grunt Ranko flipped Ranma onto his
back and would have gasped if she had been able to. The front of his red
shirt was tinged an even darker red. Blood red. She took the shirt off
and nearly gagged. There was a set of claw marks deep across abdomen,
between area between his upper chest and stomach. The wound was
unhealthy looking and pieces of dirt and bits of animal fur could be
seen it. "Ranma!" She slapped him with as much force as she could
manage. He was still unconscious. Ranko carefully set her small hand on
his forehead, it was hot. "Ohh you idiot! Why did you come after me? And
how did you get this hurt?" She found she had no tears to cry and
realized just how thirsty she was. 'I must be dehydrated... how long was
I out for?' Putting the thought off for the moment she tore off her
shirt and covered Ranma's wound. It might not be clean, but it was the
best thing she could think of at the moment. She dragged the small
mountain of fur over Ranma's body and sat still.

	'What do I do?' She grimaced as her stomach told her. Scrambling over
to where she had seen the berries she picked up the rock. Reaching down
she grabbed a handful and swallowed them whole. She ate several more
handfuls then forced herself to stop. Her body wouldn't be able to
digest large amounts of food while she was this weak. Ranko stood up and
looked at Ranma. He was hurt, she didn't know how badly though. He
needed to see a doctor. 'But I'm not strong enough.' She despaired. Her
body was still weak from being without food or water for so long. As if
called by the thought she heard the trickle of a nearby stream. After a
bit of investigation Ranko found the stream only several yards away from
the cave entrance, which was good seeing that she didn't feel much up to
going farther. The clear liquid felt like heaven as she drank from the
stream. Carefully she dunked herself, scrubbing off the residue of the
fur and ground while occasionally looking back at the cave to assure
herself Ranma was nearby. Her hair came clean of the dirt and twigs that
had been collecting while she was unconscious. She watched with an idle
fascination as they floated and twirled downstream, imperfections on the
flowing crystal. She made her way back to the cave. Tomorrow she would
be strong enough to start carrying Ranma. She slipped next to him under
the grotesque blankets and fell asleep with her arms wrapped around him
and her face buried in his neck.

	Ranko woke suddenly. Stumbling over to the berry cache she swept off
the top layer (which had been covered with bugs) and started to devour
it. Consequences be damned, she was hungry. Berry juice started started
to slowly make it's way down her face and bare chest as she continued to
eat with at an almost frantic pace, but at the moment that didn't matter
all that much to her. When there was only a fifth of what had originally
been there she stopped and tore off one of her pant legs, using it to
collect the rest then tied it securely into an awkward bag. "Now comes
the hard part." Ranko sighed. Bending down she brushed the blankets off
of Ranma then slipped her arms under him. Her face twisted as she
strained her muscles for the first time in who knew how long. Then she
had him in her arms. She made it as far as the river before she was
forced to set him down again. As she rested, Ranko tore off the
remaining bit of her pant leg and dunked it in water. "I might as well
be naked." She muttered as she used the rag to wipe Ranma's face. After
a moment of thought she took the bandage off his chest. She washed it in
the water, then took it out and tried to clean the wound. It still
looked bad, probably infected. She repeated the process several times
then wound the mangaled shirt around him to re-form the makeshift
bandage. Kami-sama was she tired. Ranko lay down next to Ranma, deciding
to rest just for a little longer.

	The red-head sat up quickly, blinking her eyes to clear them. She felt
something dangerous nearby. She glanced around.. bush, swarm of bugs,
river, giant pig, tre- Giant pig?! She gave out a surprised squeak
(hurting her throat in the process) and stumbled backwards. The pig
looked at her curiously, then noticed Ranma. It gave a grunt and lowered
it's head. "No!" Ranko forced her self off the ground and stood in front
of Ranma as the pig started to charge. Normally this wouldn't be a
problem, but at the moment it was all she could do to keep from falling
down. Standing up so quickly had made her dizzy. If the pig noticed her,
it didn't seem to care. It made contact, sending Ranko sprawling to the
ground. She would have screamed as the hooves trampled both her and
Ranma but was already unconscious.


	Akane looked at her calendar. It had been eight days since Ranma and
Ranko had left. Nobody quite knew what happened. Nabiki and Kasumi were
sure that they were hurt somewhere. Daddy thought that they had run
away. Genma and Nodoka... nobody had asked what they thought, and they
hadn't offered to tell them. Akane hadn't seen either of them since the
day before yesterday.

	"Akane! Breakfast is ready!" Nabiki voice called from somewhere in the
house.

	Akane hefted her bag over one shoulder. It was funny, her family was
worried about Ranko and the Saotomes were worried about Ranma. It seemed
that she was the only one who was worried about both of them. She didn't
like Ranma a whole lot, but he didn't deserve to be hurt. Giving her
long hair one last brush quick brush she went downstairs.


>>>>>>>>Seven days later


	An old miner threw his hat off and walked into his small home. He
smiled as he saw the boy holding his girl friend. "She doin' any
better?" He asked in his old voice and odd accent.

	Ranma smiled at the old man. "A little." When he had woken up he found
himself inside this cabin with Ranko. She had been covered with bruises
and nearly all her ribs had been broken. Ranma hadn't been much better
off himself. The miner had helped nurse them each back to health and
soon they would be ready to make the trip back to Nerima. "So how'd you
do today Pete?" Ranma had never heard of anybody named Pete before, but
the miner said it was an American name.

	"Not bad, not bad at all." He gave a grin filled with gaping holes
where teeth should have been and sat down on a rickity old chair. "I
found something fer ya today. You bein a martial artist and all will
probably understan' it better then I ever could." He handed Ranma I
tightly bound scroll. Carefully adjusting the sleeping Ranko in his arms
he freed both hands and opened the scroll. It was a chi technique.

	"This.. it's amazing! Where did you find it?" Ranma looked up at the
old man in astonishment.

	"An old buddy of mine gave it to me before he left for China." The
miner scratched his chin through his beard. "Supposed to be a big help
with cave-in's or some such thing. I never quite figured out how to do
it so I just rolled it up and kept it. I figure it'll help the both of
you out on your way back. My old horse isn't gonna be able to carry the
both of ya's back here again. He barely made the trip the first time."

	Ranma's face grew concerned. "Ranko and me really want to pay you back
for everything you've done for us. Are you sure there's nothing you
need? We can stay a little longer and help in the mine."

	The man waved his hand. "Don't worry 'bout it. I was gettin a bit
lonely up here, horse ain't much for talking ya know, and you two helped
me out just fine already." He smiled. "Actually there is something I
want ya to do. Invite me to the weddin!" He laughed. "I ain't been to a
weddin in years!"

	Ranma frowned. "That might not happen."

	"Whatcha mean? You two are in love plain as day. You already act like
your married, why I ain't never seen you apart since you got here." The
old man looked confused.

	Ranma sighed. "It's a long story."

	"Well I ain't goin nowheres." he chuckled as Ranko snuggled closer into
Ranma. "And it looks like you ain't either."

	Ranma gave in. After all, the man had saved Ranko's (and his) life.
"Well you see it's like this..."



	They would leave tomorrow. Both of them were back at their peak
condition, and maybe then some. Each had mastered the chi attack quickly
and happily used it during sparring sessions (although it made Pete
worry so they had to stop), neither ever managing to gain the upper
hand. All in all the time spent in the small miner's cabin had been one
of the most wonderful times of their lives. "I'm going to miss this
place." Ranko sighed from Ranma arms. They were sitting in front of the
fireplace, Ranko sitting in Ranma's lap.

	Ranma smiled. "Me too Ranko-chan." He kissed the back of her neck.

	"Where's Pete?" She asked suddenly. He was normally home by now.

	"He said he was going to be staying at the mine tonight."

	Ranko frowned. "I don't like him doing that, he might get hurt."

	Ranma just smiled and held Ranko closer. "You're not going to run away
from me again are you?"

	She blushed prettily and shook her head. "No, I don't think I'll be
doing that
again. Now that I know you do love me."

	Ranma kissed the side of her neck. "Of course I love you, I loved you
even before then."

	Ranko made a happy sound and leaned her head to one side, exposing her
neck even further to Ranma. "I was afraid you were only doing it out of
pity. I mean you had another fiance, a real girl. With real parents and
family, and a real mother."

	The two sat and enjoyed the bouncing fire for long moments, content.
They had never had moments like this before. Genma had always
interrupted, or if not him some one else. Sometimes it seemed the kamis
were playing with them. Ranko turned slightly and looked up at Ranma's
face. His grey-blue eyes held the dancing flames of the fire. She
reached a hand up and traced the shadows along his face. Ranma smiled at
her and lifted his hand from her side to her neck. They kissed and Ranko
closed her eyes. Ranma broke away gently and moved his hands just under
Ranko's ribs, leaning close and kissing her again. Ranko giggled
suddenly and broke away. She stood and turned to face him, lowering
herself to the ground so she was positioned above his legs with her
knees on either side for support. She leaned forward and pressed herself
against him, chest to chest, and kissed him again. "I love you."

	Ranma moved his hand to her cheek, his thumb stroking the smooth skin.
"And I love you Ranko-chan." Another kiss was shared, long and
passionate. "And I always will." They held each other until Ranko pulled
back.

	She bit her lower lip then looked at Ranma, eyes pleading. She kissed
him again. "Please Ranma, just this once.... I know that we're not
married but we are fiancés an-"

	Ranma put a finger to her lips, silencing her. He placed one hand on
her back and brought her forward in a kiss. Ranko then felt herself
being lifted as Ranma swept her feet onto his other arm. Still kissing
they made their way to the bed they shared.


	Pete patted his old grey horse affectionately. "Yes horse, I do believe
that those two are gonna do jus' fine. Jus' fine." He smiled a wise
smile.


>>>>>>>>
Author's Notes: Well after many many (many) times of writing, scrapping,
re-writing, scrapping, re- well you get the point. I finished!! For
those of you who don't understand what the berries were doing under the
rock, Ranma had stored them there. (Yes, seems like a no-brainer doesn't
it? Yet people always ask me questions like that...) Bits and pieces of
their trip will be described in greater detail next chapter, so don't
worry if things went a little fast.

What's coming: The return to Nerima!!! And who's that girl with purple
hair?

~Syithe
ssauthor@hotmail.com
http://members.xoom.com/Syithe__/archive.html


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