I do not own Ranma 1/2 or the characters. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi...lucky.

The light coming from the light posts framing the street were flickering and some stood dark. Nerima was tucked with a blanket over the sky and the smell of moist grass lay in the air. It was 11 pm, everyone asleep, everyone safe and happy under their warm blankets. Everyone except Ukyo Kounji.

She walked the lonely streets, her head bowed down and her shoulders stooped.

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. I cant believe I would sink so low and try to put razors in their wedding cake. I'm just like Shampoo. I'm a jackass.

She sighed, her arms hung loosely beside her hips.

Ran-chan chose already. I should just accept it.

She kicked the tiny rocks that lay innocently in front of her. Heart swollen from the shame and sadness that she could never express lay at the pit of her stomach. She forced and disciplined herself to not feel emotions considered as girly. She faked being a boy her whole life and learned to act like one but somewhere inside of her she ached to be a pretty girl or even be able to have a strong and manly arm hug her.

Ranma. She thought.

The boy that kept her going and haunted her dreams. The very thought of him made her heart skip a few paces. She was promised to him since a child and the reason that brought her to Nerima. But her journey there made her realize that it has always been his decision if he wanted Ukyo. He never did and always considered her his friend. She always ignored it and persisted to win his heart. She soon realized that his heart was already conquered by a short-haired girl. Akane. She sighed again.

She had been walking for what seemed 2 hours not noticing where she was going. She looked up and saw trees surrounding her. She scratched her head in confusion and looked around.

"Shit..where the heck am I?", her voice broke the eerie silence of the still forest.

Crickets chirped silently and the smell of moist dirt tickled her nose. She kept walking forward, her eyes wide open trying to look for a light, for warmth, for hope.

Stupid, stupid. I should have known this would happen. I guess I just wasn't ready for that wedding invitation. I don't know what made me act like a total jackass. I'm not a psycho! I'm not like Shampoo and I pray to the gods that I am certainly not like Kodachi. She sighed again. I'm beginning to think that I'm exactly like her or worse.

The darkness seemed like a weight, her skin felt heavy. Her ears hummed and she began to feel claustrophobic.

She saw a light coming closer from a distance. Her aching limbs were bothering her and her stockings were wet and splattered with mud. A faint smile crept at the corner of her mouth, she hadn't smiled since 'their' wedding. As she walked closer to see what exactly was illuminating the forest around her she noticed that it was a bonfire. A small, warm, comfortable fire. She stayed in the bushes that lined the clearing. There was a small tent a good way behind the fire. A rack, probably hand-made, beside the fire as well. There were a few pairs of socks, a pair of pants and a yellow shirt handing on it to dry. Uyko sighed in relief.

Suddenly, she felt a hand grab hold of her shirt and tossed her into the clearing, she quickly found her feet. She looked towards the bushes behind her, eyes searching wildly for an enemy. She stood in battle stance and mentally kicked herself for leaving Ucchan's without her giant spatula. She clenched her hands in tight fists and narrowed her eyes.

"Ukyo?"

Her eyes widened as she saw a familiar face creep out of the bushes.

"Forgive me. You kinda sneaked up on me. A martial artist is always on high alert." He flashed his pointy teeth into a queasy smile.

"Sugar, I should be the one to talk. You sneaked up on me. I almost kicked your head clean off." Ukyo was relieved and watched Ryoga scratch the back of his head as he walked to her.

He stared at her up and down in silence with blazing chocolate eyes, she blushed and felt a sudden jolt of anger.

"What's your problem?!" He pointed at her feet and she looked down to see her muddy streaked stockings and shoes.

"Oh yeah. I've been lost."

Ryoga smiled, "Yeah me too."

Ukyo's stomach went warm. She always felt kind of bad for him. The eternal lost boy. Poor poor Ryoga. He was as hopeless as a compass without an arrow, he had no sense of direction, he could get lost in a one room apartment. Hopeless romantic and awkward, it was too bad he devoted his heart to Akane. Seems like Ryoga and I are in the same page. They stood in silence for what seemed like 3 minutes. When she shivered and crossed her arms, Ryoga cleared his throat trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Its better to travel during the day...its already kind of late. I can give you some clean and dry clothes if you want." Ukyo smiled warmly at him and nodded.

He quickly searched his pack that lay near the tent. He took out a pair of pants and socks and handed them to Ukyo. Ryoga widened his eyes as Ukyo took his calloused hand in between her soft hands. Sweat poured from his brow.

"Uh."

She bowed, touching her forehead to the back of his hand.

"Thank you Ryoga. Really, thank you."

It made Ryoga shiver even though he wasn't cold. His palms became sweaty and his pulse quickened. What he wanted the most was to yank his hand from hers and crawl under a rock. He wasn't use to people being nice to him, even more when it was a woman.

"Uh---um---really Ukyo. It's the least thing I could do."

She looked at him and smiled again, his face seemed to melt every time. I'm such a nervous wreck around girls. Pathetic. Ryoga didn't notice that he was staring at Ukyo.

A vein popped on her temple, "Why do you keep staring at me jackass?"

Ryoga shook his head and blushed. She untied her pants, and looked at him.

"Well are you going to stand there? Or are you going to turn around? Because I'm not going to change in front of you!" she said tapping her foot.

Ryoga jumped and walked to the tent, his back to Ukyo. Hands shaking and nervous, he figited with his belongings. As she changed quickly she watched him, his back was the only thing in view. She tried to shake a very inappropriate thought from her head: if only she could stretch out her hand and feel him, if she could only feel his tight body...Come on girl, what are you thinking? What was coming over her? She never thought of Ryoga like this!

Ryoga put out a tarp that stretched out from the tent to the fire. He held a blanket folded in his arms and sat cross-legged in front of the fire, Ukyo joined him sitting next to him. Staring at the fire crackling their minds were racing through the week that passed. Ranma and Akane. Their wedding. When they held that invitation for their wedding it wasn't a celebration...it was heartbreak. The world came crashing into a violent stop and all the fear that they hoped that would never be experienced was glued to their chest. It made their muscles tense, it made their heart swell with the pain that they were denied. Ukyo never cried once, she forced herself to keep everything in. As the fire danced in front of her she sighed and thought of everything that was weighing her down. Ryoga did too, he felt like a jerk for taking advantage of Akane for his personal gain. He thought of the fact that he changed into P-chan to have her warm embrace surround him because he was too afraid to face her as a man. He felt like a coward for not telling her, for keeping her in the dark.

"This past week was the worst week I've had in my life." He said, putting his face in his hands and rubbing it .

"Ditto hun. Its kind of hard to think that we all fought till the end. How desperate we all were, going as far as to try and stop them."

She couldn't believe she said it out loud, hearing her voice admit it made her accept it.

"We're so pathetic. We just have to live with it and there's no point of it now. They chose each other. We shouldn't have forced ourselves on them." His voice sounded muffled through his hands.

They were silent, both staring at the fire. Ukyo couldn't believe what they were talking about. She couldn't believe that she actually said what she felt out loud. She had to be strong and act like nothing faced her. She had the discipline she had everything that anyone could ever want. Whether Ranma didn't want her it didn't matter anymore. She wasn't going to feel pain no more, she couldn't allow it.

Ryoga unwrapped the blanket and lay it on top of his legs, he held one side to Ukyo. She was deep in thought and didn't notice him offering warmth. He touched her lightly in the arm, it made her shiver.

"Its kind of cold out. I know its not much but its the only blanket I have. If you don't mind we can share it." Ukyo gave a weak smile and took the side of the blanket, feeling kind of touched at the fact that he was being so nice to her. Maybe that's what she needed. Someone who cared if she was sad or even cold.

He was warm, his body was giving a massive amout of heat. Ukyo scoot closer to him and let her hip hit his. Ryoga tensed but quickly found the gesture endearing. She stared at the fire continuing her train of thought.

I hate this. Stuck out here. Cold. Miserable. Thinking of that idiot.

She felt the hot stream of tears coming down her face, she couldn't keep it together anymore and fell apart from the seams. Her body ached and she felt like kicking uncontrollably because the pain was drowning her . She sniffled then wiped her tears quickly with the sleeve of her shirt wondering and screaming at herself for being weak. Ryoga turned to look at her, his heart sank when he saw Ukyo's walls of defenses tumble down into ash, he saw a softer side of her that he liked. But he didn't know what to do, he felt nervous. The only thought that stuck out in his brain like a sore thumb was to wrap his arm around her to make her feel better. He hesitated and tried to fight the thought back but he could never leave her like that. Ignoring the red flag waving in his head, he slowly stretched his arm out covering her shoulders into a hug. She quickly clasped her arms around his strong torso and dug her face into his neck. He felt the hot and wet tears covering his skin. She shook violently as she broke down.

"It hurts Ryoga. I hate it! I hate everything. I cant belive I thought I could have him!" She yelled, her lips brushed his neck.

Ryoga shuttered, "I know. I know."

He rubbed her back. That's all he had to say and do. He felt everything Ukyo felt. He had to be strong, if not for himself it was for Ukyo. For this moment.

For a moment nothing happened as Ukyo's sobs died down. The smell of him calmed her, his slow and steady breathing paced hers. He loosened his hold on her and dug deep into his pack, smiling. She stared in wonderment. He turned, showing her a bottle of sake.

"We need a toast."

She smiled at the silly face he was making.

"I know it sounds stupid but...no one is around to disapprove. A toast because I WONT be miserable. No more thoughts of the past. Deal?"

Ukyo rubbed her nose and nodded, she had nothing to lose.

For the next hour they proceeded to toast to their dilemma and soon everything to everyone they knew.

"A toast to Shampoo...making us look like the normal ones!"

"A toast to the socks that are hanging dry...they look like they're having a good time!"

"A toast to this bottle because everything looks a lot more interesting."

Through the hiccups and burps they laughed hysterically. Ukyo stood up and snatched the bottle of sake from Ryoga. She threw her arms in the air, her shirt lifted only slightly to reveal the skin under her belly-button and it made Ryoga gulp.

"A toast to you, Sugar! Because you have always been the nicest boy to me and that's all I need."

She pointed at Ryoga and tipped the bottle over and drank some. Her face cringed and she swayed side to side. Ryoga was at her side trying to keep her from falling but to his surprise he had lost his balance when he stood up.

He snatched the bottle from her, "And the final toast to you---", putting the bottle to his eye, seeing there was only a tiny bit left. "---the hottest little number from here to the ends of the earth!"

He drank the last bit and threw it into the bushes. They both laughed. As their chuckles died down, they sat infront of the fire again.

"Ryoga!" Ukyo lay her head back with her mouth open trying to fill her lungs with the cool air.

Ryoga smiled, "mmm..."

She didn't turn.

"I feel dizzy."

She laughed with no effort. Ryoga shook his head, "We better go to sleep. We might wake the neighbors."

Ukyo looked at him with a serious face.

"There's no one around for about 2 hours."

She laughed and struggled to get up. Sticking her butt up in the air and holding herself with her hands, she pushed herself up. Her legs felt like noodles and her head spun. Loosing her balance, she fell in top of Ryoga hitting his head on the floor. Legs straddled him, her face hit his cement chest. He sat up quickly and she fell facing him in between his crossed legs. They laughed with no effort. Ryoga put his hands on her waist to keep her balanced not exactly realizing where his hands were. She looked down at his chest, the shirt was torn in various places. Her eyes caressed his skin and she began tracing her fingers to the patches exposed, paying close attention to the feel of the heat coming through. He watched her and felt the tips of her fingers graze him, it made his insides warm and the pit of his stomach felt like some kind of chemical reaction was about explode. He put his hand to her jaw, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. Why didn't he know? Why didn't he realize that Ukyo was a beautiful girl. So much time was wasted chasing a girl that he could never have. In fact, they all were wasting their time. Here they sat with their hands all over each other and still scared to let go. It didn't make sense and Ryoga knew it and he wasn't about to make himself feel stupid once again. He wasn't going to make the same mistake anymore and let something pass him by. Grow a back-bone Hibiki! Her delicate features burned in his head it made a smile curl his lips, she pressed her cheek to her shoulder catching his thumb with her teeth. Gently she nibbled on it and her tongue lightly touching him. Ryoga felt blood rush through his body like a speedway of cars and his body begged for more. He grabbed her chin and slowly, very slowly he closed the space in between their lips. She gasped silently with anticipation. Something came over Ukyo, she felt like she had been waiting for this for far too long and found it hard to resist. He lightly pressed his lips to hers. As they both opened their mouths the smell of alcohol was ever present in their noses, tongues clashed with wet enthusiasm and hands explored each others bodies. They crawled into the small tent, lips never leaving each other. His shirt no longer on him, lay outside the tent. Ryoga's fingers slid under the tape that bound her breasts down to reveal. It was a whirlwind of pictures in their heads. Ryoga's face. The smell of alcohol. Skin against skin. It was as if they were in a sauna. As sweat covered hands on his back scratched deep in his flesh, it made his body go numb. It was all a blur, then it all went blank.

What happened?