"What?"

"I said take me with you."

He turned and regarded the girl behind him. Bags under her eyes, hair unkempt, clothes torn and dirty. She didn't look fit to stand let alone accompany him on his maddening perpetual journey. Her face was stern but her eyes were anything but, they were pleading, her suffering poured from them and begged him to take her away from the place that reminded her of it all.

He nodded.

The air was awash in the aromas of Kasumi Tendo's cooking. It was what lured the occupants of the Tendo household from their slumber each morning, no one was immune to the tantalizing smells of her cuisine. So it seemed until now.

"Has anyone seen Ranko-chan?" Everyone looked about as if just now noticing the missing girl. "Ranma? Is she still sleeping?" She asked.

Said boy shrugged. "Wasn't there when I woke up, figured she was somewhere down here."

"Well I certainly don't smell her." Griped Nabiki as she nursed her coffee. "I swear she hasn't bathed in a week."

Kasumi gave her sister a reprimanding look but didn't argue with the truth of her statement, the girl did smell rather ripe.

They still hadn't seen her three days later, but Kasumi seemed the only one truly worried or bothered by the fact. Ranma just shrugged it off, it wasn't his problem. Akane was the same, she and Ranma finally seemed to be getting along, even holding hands on the walk to school. The missing redhead was the furthest thing from her mind. Nabiki while curious wasn't overly concerned, the girl had appeared and was added to the list of mouths to feed. They had been stretched thin enough as it was without her there, if she was gone, that just meant one less drain on the finances. Neither her nor Ranma's father even seemed to notice, if she hadn't brought it up Kasumi was sure they might have even forgotten she existed in the first place.

"I hope she's okay." Whispered Kasumi, silently giving a plea to the Kami for the redhead's safety.

Ryoga eyed the girl across the campfire from him, their first few days were mainly spent in silence. She didn't have a specific destination in mind, and was content to follow his lead. It confused him, if anything he expected her to complain about him not knowing where he was going. But she seemed to want to take advantage of that.

"I'm not really sure what to say to you." He blurted. "I mean, I don't even know what to call you.." He attempted to smooth his outburst, but it had been bothering him a little.

She finished the fish she had caught and he had prepared. "They named me 'Ranko', like some sort of pet." She spat. "Call me whatever you want, I don't technically exist anyway."

"I'm not going to name you." He said irritably. "You're a person. What's your name?"

His response seemed to shock her, and she wiped her eyes quickly. Was she crying?

"I'm Ranma, my name is Ranma."

It was the first time he had seen her smile, even if it was just a small hesitant one. He took another bite of his fish and nodded. "I figured." He said while chewing. "Who else could you be?" The remainder of his dinner fell to the ground as he was suddenly enveloped in a crushing embrace, she was shaking terribly and was whispering 'thank you' into his chest in between her quiet sobs. He awkwardly pat her on the back in an attempt at comfort. He didn't know how long they sat there, but she had gone limp at some point. She had passed out/fell asleep on him. He sighed and carried her to her tent. As he closed the flap on the sleeping redhead he wondered just what he had gotten himself into.

It had been months since 'Ranko' and gone missing. Disappeared would be a better word. Later that day they had found that she had taken Ranma's pack with a good bit of his clothes along with whatever he had accumulated for his cursed form.

Her absence wasn't even really acknowledged besides Ranma complaining about some of his favorite shirts being taken. Life continued on as it had before, the only difference being his lack of curse. He still had random challengers abound and squabbles with Akane and the others. Although he did find it odd that Ryoga hadn't appeared at some point or another to challenge him, but he'd been lost for longer, or at least he thought he had. Oh well, he'd turn up sooner or later.

Winter was Ryoga's favorite season. Not for traveling, but for the mornings where the warmth of his sleeping bag was such a stark contrast to the bite of the air outside. He adjusted himself to take advantage of the warmth that was reluctant to allow him to awaken fully. Enjoying the warm breath on his neck and lithe legs tangled in his own. Wait...

"What?!"

The shout startled the girl that had been curled into his chest. "Huh? What is it?" She mumbled sleepily as she sat up and looked around the tent. Ranma met his wide panicked eyes blurrily before settling back down against him.

"Zip it back up." She grumbled into his side. "It's cold."

"What are you doing? Why are you in my tent? In my sleeping bag?!" His panicked look took on a deep red hue as Ranma's body shifted against his.

She looked up at him. "It was cold." She said. As if that explained everything.

"But you can't just..And in..."

Her response to his sputtering was to re-zip the sleeping bag and pull his arm around her as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"It's cold." She repeated. "Let's just be warm and we can freak out about this later kay?" He nodded shakily but he really didn't have a choice, she was dug in like a tick.

Over the next few weeks it became a common occurrence to wake up with her there next to him, he was no longer surprised to wake up and find her tucked into his chest. He had began to expect it, it soon became the norm. Ranma no longer set up her tent, neither said anything about it. It didn't seem like a big deal anymore, it was cold, sharing body heat was no big deal. But winter gave way to spring, and then summer. Her tent remained in her pack.

She should be overcome with nausea and vomiting everything she'd ever eaten, should be weirded out beyond belief. She could blame the hormones, it'd be a reasonable excuse for her current predicament, but she'd just be lying to herself. Once again she lay in his arms, nocturnal scurrying and their breathing the only sounds around them. Ranma was examining his face, his features relaxed in sleep. The typical furrowing of his brow absent, he looked peaceful, something she didn't get to witness during the day. She tentatively raised her hand and gently ran it through his hair, he "hmmed" in his sleep and pulled her closer. Ranma smiled softly to herself, she was now completely flush against him, their legs intertwined, she felt the heat spread across her face. What she was about to do would be her final step over the line she had been towing these past few months.

Ranma grazed his lips softly with her own, he stirred at the contact but didn't wake. Her face almost as red as her hair she did it again, this time pressing a bit more firmly and moving her lips against his. When he responded she gasped against his mouth. Ryoga's eyes opened suddenly, startled, he tried to pull away. But she moved with him and continued to caress his mouth with hers. Ryoga groaned as she began to run her hands through his hair and down the back of his neck. She moaned in surprise when he deepened it and rolled them over. They broke the kiss and just looked at one another, their warm panting breaths lingering between them. "I'm sorry." She said breathlessly, looking at him warily. Afraid of what he'd do despite him actively participating. He responded by giving her a lingering kiss before shifting them into their regular sleeping positions. "We'll talk tomorrow." He whispered into her hair.

Tracking down the redhead had been surprisingly difficult, there was almost no trace of her, and eye witnesses were few and far between. But she and her pack mule/protection had recently managed to luck into a lead that directed them to a moderately sized cabin just outside of a town in China she couldn't pronounce.

Nabiki and Genma traversed the small path to the home. Nabiki knocked and they waited. There were rapid footfalls from inside and some indiscernible shouts, one became clearer as it neared the door.

"YOU are gonna be for dinner if you don't stop asking, I'll get the door, catch Toshi-chan, he's bare-assed again." A woman's voice called, her tone was warm with laughter. The door opened to reveal a smiling redheaded woman, but the smile left so quickly you wouldn't have thought it had been there at all once she saw them. The door slammed in their faces.

"Well, at least that was expected." Nabiki quipped before she knocked again. There were muffled voices, obviously arguing about something. Just as she was about to knock again the door opened, and a man large enough to almost take up the width of the door frame stood before them. Even Genma had to look up at his lightly bearded face.

"What do you want." It wasn't a question, it was a demand in the guise of one. He looked to both of them, his eyes narrowed but held no hostility..yet.

"We just need to talk to her, are you her boyfriend? Husband?"

"About what." The man stated. Okay Nabiki thought, he was the strong silent type. Or maybe just pissed, who knows.

"It's about Ranma." She said. The man twitched. "We need her help, his life pretty much depends on it."

"Wait." He then closed the door. At least he didn't slam it she thought. It was several minutes before it opened again. It was the man. Great, he's probably going to say 'Leave'. Instead he stepped a little to his left, the redhead came forward and handed the man a small boy no older than 3. Blue eyes stared curiously under dark hair at the two strangers. The man squeezed her hand affectionately and she graced him with a small smile before he left her with them.

If Nabiki didn't have confirmation that this was her she would have had a hard time recognizing the woman. Her hair had darkened to almost a maroon, much like Nodoka's. Well duh, she thought. She was technically her mother. It was longer and in a loose ponytail, she had filled out even more if that was possible, but her increase in height made it less exaggerated.

"Well?" She snapped, arms folded under her chest, her eyes were cold and she hadn't even acknowledged Genma. Nabiki cleared her throat.

"I don't mean to be rude, but could we maybe come in and sit down? It'd make it easier to talk and we have been traveling for quite a while." She tried to be as polite as possible, she didn't want to screw their chances.

The woman scoffed. "Of course, you wouldn't want to be rude after showing up unannounced at someone's home uninvited." But she waved them in anyway and began to lead them into the home. "Shoes by the door." She snapped before they could follow.

It was quite homey inside, comfortable. It wasn't messy, it just showed signs of people actually living here. Unlike Kasumi's home, it was like a damn museum. They followed her to a sitting room and took the seats she indicated in front of her.

"Well?" The woman repeated.

"Alright, straight to the point then. We need your help Ranko, it's.."

"Stop." Nabiki blinked at being interrupted. "My name is Ranma, if you don't like it tough shit. If it makes you uncomfortable address me as Hibiki-san."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever, anyway...did you say Hibiki?"

Before Ranma could answer the stunned Tendo and man she refused to acknowledge the little boy from earlier scurried quickly into the room and settled on Ranma's lap.

"Mama, what are you doing?" His little voice asked curiously as he examined the two strangers in his home.

Genma seemed to be struggling with something, but managed to get whatever it was under control. Meanwhile Nabiki was still stuck on her earlier question.

"You said Hibiki, was that Ryoga?!" She asked in disbelief. "How did you even..He's a giant!..when..how?"

Ranma gathered the little one in her arms into a tight hug and set him down on his feet next to her.

"Go back to your Papa Toshi-chan." She smiled fondly as she adjusted his shirt. "Mama just needs to talk for a little while." She kissed his forehead.

"Kay!" He chirped and ran off.

When Ranma looked back to them her face was as if stone once more. "Talk."

"But.."

"Is my family relevant to whatever it is that you have to say?"

"Alright, I'm sorry, it's just..Okay." She shook her head as if to clear it. "We need your help."

"You don't say."

Nabiki frowned. "Ranma is dying." There was no outward response from the redhead.

"I'm sure there's more." She sighed impatiently. "No need to pause for dramatic effect Tendo."

"That's your response to hearing your brother is dying?" Nabiki demanded.

Ranma gave a sharp laugh. "Brother?" she said incredulously. "He's as much my brother as He is my father."

The last was said with a gesture toward the man she still hadn't bothered to look at. "Now say what you have to say."

Nabiki was glaring at her, it was the most emotion Ranma had ever seen from her. "He challenged Happosai for Grandmastery." She spat. "And he won."

The wife and mother in front of them huffed irritably. "Look, I'm sure there's some climactic buildup here, but I don't want to wait around for you to get to the point. I have things to do, so please skip to the end and tell me why you're asking for my help."

"Fine! Happosai got pissed, summoned a demon from some-fucking-where to kill him. It didn't work, Ranma beat the stupid thing, but it tried to possess him or something. Cologne got it out but his ki paths are shot to hell, he'll be dead in less than a month if you don't come with us."

"And what could I do to help exactly? Ki paths aren't organs that can be transplanted."

"Cologne needs your ki to get his paths stable enough to repair themselves, she said his body won't accept any foreign ki. Which is why we need your help, you're his twin, yours just might be similar enough to work."