Akane got out of her seat. "Okay, great, so we see that Ranma lives happily ever after with any girl he wants then, so what do I care?" she yelled, obviously really losing her temper. "I guess I can leave now, I don't have to see any more."
Belldandy shook her head. "Akane, I think you should sit back down, the show is not over yet."
"I've see enough!" she huffed, walking up and down the aisles looking for an exit. "You SAID the exit would appear!"
"I said that the exits will appear when the shows are done. They're not finished yet, Akane. I told you that Ranma could be happy with ANY of your friends, Akane, and I meant it. I really think you should sit down before the next one starts."
Akane looked at Belldandy, extremely annoyed. "FINE." She said through gritted teeth. She literally marched back to her seat, he balled-up fists held tightly at her sides. Just as she sat down, the lights went down and the movie started playing. There were no credits, and 'The One He Truly Loved" appeared in blue letters on the screen.
Ranma flew out of his bedroom window, landing in the pond behind the Tendo Dojo. "What'd you do that for?" he screamed as he emerged from the water, breasts bare as he had been sleeping without a shirt on.
Akane looked at Ranma, throwing a shirt at him. "Put this on, pervert!" she yelled, and stomped off.
"Violent girl…" Ranma mumbled before being hit by a flying table.
"I HEARD that!" Akane screamed.
Fifteen minutes later, a male Ranma and Akane were running towards the school. "Come ON, Ranma! We're going to be late!" Akane snapped. "This is all YOUR fault."
"My fault?" Ranma asked, visibly irate. "You're the one that knocked me into the pond so I needed a hot bath!"
"Well if you weren't such a pervert, then I wouldn't have knocked you into the pond!" she snapped.
"Pervert?" he asked. "You didn't even tell me what I did!" At this, Akane started to turn an embarrassed red and ran faster.
"Ranma Saotome!" a voice yelled from behind the two. "Now you pay!"
A long-haired young man went flying past Ranma as the pig-tailed boy dodged the attack. "Oh, hey Mousse!" he said happily. "Sorry, I don't have time for.." he was cut short as a chain entangled itself around him and Mousse landed on a fence.
"Oh you will MAKE time for me, Ranma," Mousse said. "Because of you, my heart is broken!"
Mousse was so intent on Ranma that he didn't see Akane beneath him, who punched the fence, sending the boy with bad eyesight hurtling downward, towards the river on the other side. The chain connecting Mousse to Ranma carried the pig-tailed boy up onto the fence where he grabbed onto the chain-link, looking at Akane.
"I don't have time for this!" Akane yelled as she ran away, towards school. As she did, Ranma's grip slipped, and both boys plummeted into the cold water. Mousse's clothes were swept downstream by the water, and Ranma pulled himself in his girl form, and the duck, onto shore.
"Not again…" Ranma complained as he looked down at his body.
Just as quickly however, Mousse pulled out a tea kettle, pouring hot water over both himself and Ranma. He was smiling, staring naked down at Ranma, looking at the boy almost appraisingly. Ranma looked away, somewhat confused by the almost-blind boy's behavior.
"Not even a thank you for the hot water, Saotome?" the nude boy asked.
"Um, thanks…" Ranma said, still looking away. "Shouldn't you, um, find your clothes?" he asked.
"Not until I am finished with you, Saotome," he said, the smile still on his lips, though unseen by Ranma. "I told you, you broke my heart and…"
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Ranma yelled, standing up. "I don't WANT Shampoo!"
"Who said anything about Shampoo?" Mousse asked as he grabbed Ranma, turned him towards him and kissed him, full on the lips. Ranma stiffened for a minute, then relaxed, kissing Mousse back. The pig-tailed boy straightened up, gathering Mousse into his arms, holding him while kissing the long-haired Amazon passionately. Mousse pulled back, held tight in Ranma's arms, and Ranma started working down his neck, kissing the boy as if he couldn't get enough.
Mousse smiled, pulling Ranma's face back up to his, kissing him again, this time closed-mouth. He pulled his head back a bit, and smiled with tears running down his face. "Ranma, I didn't think… I thought that you were in love with Shampoo. Or Akane. I never in my wildest dreams, I have always…"
Ranma kissed Mousse again, his hands holding the small of the Amazon's back. He slowly lowered Mousse and himself to the ground, pulling off his shirt and covering Mousse's exposed body. Luckily, Ranma was wearing a tank top and shorts, as he was pulling off his pants to clothe the near-sighted boy. Mousse looked confused as Ranma dressed him silently, but didn't say anything until Ranma finished.
"Ranma, I thought…" he started.
Ranma put a finger over his lips. "Shh…" he said, kissing Mousse lightly. "Mousse, have you ever wondered why I've always run from these girls that have pursued me? They're beautiful, all of them. Even Akane, violent as she is. But that's not what I want, that's never been what I want. I… well, Mousse, I've known for a long time about what type of person I'm attracted to. And it's none of them. I don't want any of them at all." A smile played across his lips, and he ran his fingers through Mousse's hair, resting his hand on the Amazon's cheek. He leaned in and kissed Mousse again.
"I've always wanted someone with your passion, Mousse, someone that shares my interests, and that wants to share my life. But I never stopped to think that it was me you were chasing, and not Shampoo. I didn't even dream that it would be me, and…"
It was Mousses turn to grab Ranma, taking his lips furiously. Mousse's tongue probed Ranma's mouth, and his hands began to rover downward, reaching slowly down Ranma's body. When Mousse had reached Ranma's waist, the blue-eyed boy grabbed his hands.
"Not yet, Mousse," he said, looking down and away. "Just not yet, okay? I owe it to all of the girls to at least settle this before we go any further. I have to break off all of my engagements. All of them. And then," he said, placing both of Mousse's hands over his heart, staring into the Amazon's steel gray eyes, "I want you to marry me."
Mousse's expression lit up, but quickly dampened again. "Ranma, we can't get married. We're both men."
Ranma smiled, looking at the river and then back at Mousse. "No, we don't have to be," he said, smiling. Mousse understood and threw himself into Ranma's arms. "Ranma, I… I love you!" he yelled.
Akane was speechless as the lights came up again. She looked as if she had been slapped in the face. She wasn't ready for this one, there would have been nothing she could have done to prepare for it. Belldandy sat, watching the short-haired girl, waiting for the shock to wear off.
"I…I.." Akane stuttered. Her head turned to look at Belldandy, her eyes wide. "Does this mean that Ranma is…"
"No," Belldandy said solemnly. "THIS Ranma here is, but yours isn't. Though it wouldn't be unforeseen…" she said, drifting off.
Akane finally came back to her senses. "Gay men never last," she declared. "So this relationship is doomed before it starts. Ranma won't be happy with Mousse."
Belldandy shook her head, shrugging. "Some people never learn. Keep rolling, Skuld!"
Ranma looked out over the mountains, a stern expression on his face. He was concentrating, looking about.
"Ranma!" a voice yelled angrily as a foot flew by his head. He blocked it easily, smiling even. "Ranma you will NOT win this time!"
"Shut up and kiss me, Mousse," he said, grabbing the Amazons head and kissing him passionately. Mousse stopped fighting and let himself be pulled into Ranma's warm embrace, his hands falling to Ranma's chest as the other young man wrapped his arms around Mousse's back, pulling the bare-chested Amazon close.
"Two weeks is too long, Mousse," Ranma said, smiling. "Don't make me stay away that long again, okay?"
Mousse kissed Ranma again, a leg wrapping around the other boy as he balanced on one foot. "Yeah, never again, Ranma. Never, never again." The young man smiled. "I have the map, Ranma. It's only half a day's walk! Everyone was wrong, we're very close!"
"So what are we waiting for?" Ranma asked, grabbing Mousse's hand and practically running in the direction that the map indicated. After a minute of running, he gathered Mousse up in his arms and began leaping from treetop to treetop, faster than the eye could see. When the trees ended, Ranma and Mousse stood at the edge of a cliff and looked down. There it was, the place that was responsible for so much misery.
Ranma took his husband by the hand and the two walked the small trail downwards, stopping when a familiar-looking man walked out towards them.
"Oh, sirs!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Welcome to home of… say, am I knowing you too sirs?"
"We're looking for the Spring of Drowned Man, please," Ranma said, still holding Mousse's hand.
The man's mouth fell agape. "Oh sirs! You are sirs that fall in Springs eight year ago!"
Ranma smiled sadly and nodded. "Yeah, that's us. And now we're back to be cured. We just need to know which is the correct spring."
A stunned guide led the two to Naniichuan. He pointed slowly. "Very tragic tale of man that drown in spring four-thousand year ago," he started. Before he could finish, however, Mousse and Ranma were standing by the spring, holding each other as a man would hold his wife. The guide was stunned, and said nothing more.
"It's over," Ranma said to Mousse, his warm lips kissing Mousse's. As their lips touched, he pulled them over backwards and into the spring. The cold water covered them both, and they came up for air shortly afterward.
Mousse looked to Ranma, his husband's shirt wet and soggy, stuck to a pair of the nicest pectoral muscles the Amazon had ever seen. "Ranma, it worked!" Mousse yelled, leaping into Ranma's arms. Their kissing was frantic, and Mousse slid a hand into Ranma's pants. Ranma's eyes opened wide, then closed again. Realizing that the guide was still there, however, he stopped Mousse. He looked to the guide and smiled.
"Excuse me," he asked the guide. "Can you put us up for the night?" he asked. "We'll need a room all to ourselves."
The guide had gotten over his shock, and was smiling like a Cheshire Cat. "Oh sirs!" he shouted. "I let sirs use my room," he said, blushing a bit. "Would be honor for happy couple."
Ranma looked down at Mousse and picked him up, cradling the boy's weight in his arms. He carried Mousse all the way inside, and once on the bed undressed him gingerly. He kissed Mousse's neck and began to undress himself. When they were both undressed, Ranma looked down at Mousse and smiled.
"Happy seventh anniversary, Mousse," Ranma said. "I love you."
Akane didn't move. She was confused, this was a bit much for her to take. Shampoo? That was understandable, Shampoo WAS very cute, and a strong fighter to boot. Nabiki? She could deal with that as well, her sister knew how to take care of business and wasn't a slacker in the looks department. But with a BOY?
"Ranma you PERVERT!" she screamed.
Belldandy just shook her head sadly and looked away from the youngest Tendo, somewhat disapponted that the girl wasn't learning anything from all this.