Hello all! Yeah I know, this is bad of me to be writing something when I can't even seem to continue writing my other stories. I apologize for that. I'm attempting to get into some sort of writing groove again with this story. We'll see what happens. I'm not making any promises though. This is a crossover between Ranma 1/2 and Moe Kare. I still don't know how I got the idea for this story, but here it is. Hope you enjoy.

Ch 1 Encounters of the Amazon Kind

Arata sighed as he sat down on a near by bench. It had been nearly a month since he set out to explore the world in hopes of finding something to give him a reason to keep going. His ocean blue eyes watched the clouds move lazily across the sky. Closing his eyes, he began to think about his life up until that point. For as long as he could remember the only thing driving him forward was wanting to prove to everyone that his half-brother wasn't the perfect person everyone made him out to be. That he was also his equal. That his existence was not a mistake. It had been a frustrating endeavor. Convincing his grandfather to let him return to Japan, alone, had not been easy given that the man hated giving him anything at all. His grandfather had been hesitant at first but Arata argued that he would no longer need to look after him. It's not like he had wanted to be left with that responsibility anyway. He hated that Arata looked like the man that left his mother and did it solely out of obligation to her. His grandfather agreed after awhile. He got a monthly allowance from him and his apartment was paid for by his grandfather as well. If he wanted any extra money he needed to work for it. Also, his grades needed to be maintained if he wanted everything to continue to be paid for. He had no problem with those conditions. He could easily keep his grades at an acceptable level. He was considered somewhat of a genius after all.

Once arriving in Japan, he set out to find his half-brother. It was easy enough to do. He learned about the kind of life he had been living up until then and came to hate him even more. He was happy and had everything. Friends and a loving family. His anger built up within him and that's when he came up with a plan. He was going to do everything in his power to destroy his half-brother's reputation. It was a simple enough plan. All he was going to do was sleep around with as many girls as he could around the area where he lived. Sooner or later, those girls would run into him without realizing it was a different person. They did, after all, look identical. The only difference being their eye color, but he doubted any of the girls he slept with would be that observant. It had worked, to an extent. Girls would randomly bump into him thinking he was Arata but his reputation never took a hit. No one seemed to question these random occurrences. This served to anger him more.

It was not to long after that, that the boyfriends of the girls he slept with would seek him out and attempt to get revenge. He found that he liked fighting. It helped him direct his pent up anger at something. Everything continued on as such until he met her. Once she came into his life everything changed. He still hated his half-brother but now it was for a different reason. He hated him because he easily got her. It took no effort on his part to woo the girl while he couldn't even get her to so much as be civil with him, especially after she found out the truth about them. He attended the same school as them, hoping to get closer to her. Things, though, didn't go his way at all. She was too infatuated with his half-brother to realize he had feeling for her. He had even stopped sleeping around with other girls for her! His anger and hate continued to grow. Fighting continued to be his only outlet for these emotions. Eventually, he joined the karate club they were a part of. He wanted to break them up but nothing seemed to shake the bond they had. He had thought on many occasions to give up. He had even helped them forward in their relationship! Then Kobayakawa Ami came and things began to change in his favor. Before he knew it, he began trying to win the heart of the girl of his dreams. Eventually she asked him to date her. Ichikawa Arata, for the first time in his life was happy. He should have known it wouldn't last forever...

*Flashback*

Arata was running as fast as he could through the halls. He was worried when he heard his girlfriend went to the nurses office where she was being treated by his half-brother. Relief filled him when he saw the room come into view, that feeling quickly disappeared when he looked through the open door. He was shattered by the image in front of him. His girlfriend, Wakamiya Hikaru, was locked in a passionate kiss with his older step-brother, Honda Takara. He stared for what seemed like an eternity at the image before him as it was seared into his mind. His body refused to move. Like something was holding him in place. Hikaru then looked over in his direction, eyes wide and brimming with tears.

"Arata?"

The sound of her voice jolted him from his immobile state and rushed into action. His body was on auto pilot as he pulled his arm back and slugged his half-brother as hard as he could.

"Takara-kun!" Hikaru exclaimed as her ex-boyfriend stumbled back from the blow.

Arata was breathing heavily as he tried to reign in his emotions.

"What the hell is this..." he glared at the ground. "What are you doing to my girlfriend?"

He raised his head and glared at Takara. "Despite how you made her cry...What the hell are you trying to pull now?"

"I..." Takara began. "Ever since I broke up with Hikaru, my heart was as good as dead."

Takara straightened up and looked at Arata defiantly. "Hit me until your satisfied. I don't care. After losing Hikaru I finally understood. I don't want anyone but her!"

Arata could hardly contain the rage building up within him. How dare he? After everything he did to Hikaru, he still felt he had a right to try to take her back. He clenched his fists. Hit him till he was satisfied? Arata was more than willing to oblige his bastard brother. Without hesitating another moment, he grabbed a fistful of Takara's jacked and prepared to bury his fist in his face. The last thing he expected was for Hikaru to rush to Takara's aid. She held onto his arm with all her strength, keeping him from striking the other boy.

"Don't hurt him!" she desperately pleaded. "I...It's okay if you want to hit me. Just don't hurt Takara-kun!"

Hikaru's hands were shaking as she continued to hold onto his arm. Arata felt his heart breaking into a million pieces. How could this happen? Why was this happening? He had done everything in his power to heal Hikaru's broken heart after Takara dumped her for his childhood friend. Regardless of his reason for doing what he did, Takara had left Hikaru broken and with no one to turn to. It took him weeks to get her to open up and smile again. Everything Arata had achieved in those weeks, he knew that Takara could have easily accomplished in a day. However, he wasn't Takara. He would never be him. He wasn't the one Hikaru would always pine for.

"I knew it." he said bitterly. "You still like Takara more than me. Yeah, that must be it. Even though you said that you wanted to be my girlfriend. You never once told me you liked me."

He needed to get out of the room. It was getting harder to breathe with each passing moment. He quikly turned and walked out as fast as he could. He heard Hikaru briefly try to stop him, but she was abrutly silenced. Takara probably had something to do with it. Arata tried desperately not to think about how easily his half-brother could get Hikaru to listen to him. How one word from him could make her change her opinion about anything. He didn't notice when he began to run or his classmates attempts to stop him. Finally he came upon a door. It took him a moment to register that it was his apartment. He realized, belatedly, that he left all his things back at school, including his keys. Luckily, he had a spare key under the mat.

Once inside his puppy that he had affectionately given the name Hiyoko, his girlfriends nickname, came to greet him. Arata slumped against the door in defeat. The puppy came up to him and gently nudged his hand. He gently picked up the dog and hugged it to him. Finally, he let his tears fall. All the anger and sadness he felt came spilling out.

"It's over Hiyoko." he said miserably.

The puppy could only lick his cheek in an effort to give him some form of comfort.

Arata hated his walk to school the next morning. He never felt so broken before. Not since his mother died. However, he also felt resolute in what he decided the previous night. It was obvious to him that Hikaru was only going to be happy being with Takara. He loathed to admit that more than anything, but he loved Hikaru enough to let her be together with the person she loved. Even if that person was someone he hated with all his being, however, he wasn't going to give her up that easily. No, if Takara wanted her back, he'd have to beat him at the upcoming karate tournment. That would be the only condition he'd offer him when he confronted him later that day. Arata knew he'd readily agree to it. At the tournament he would see just how much he truly wanted her and then he'd let him win the match. He was jolted out of his thoughts when he saw the school gates come into view. Stopping for a moment, he took a deep breath. What he was about to do was going to break him even more, but he wouldn't let them see just how much it hurt him to do it. None of them would. With one final deep breath, he put on his mask of indifference and walked forward.

He felt lucky to not run into Hikaru or Takara. A few of his classmates saw him and whispered to themselves but no one made any move to try and talk to him. In all honestly, he hadn't expected the morning to be so calm. Then his class room door came into view. His luck had run out. Taking another calming breath, he opened the door and strolled in like he normally did.

"Arata!"

Hikaru stood up from her desk and began to walk towards him. Arata spared her a glance before walking past her without so much as a hello. He knew she was probably hurt.

'She hurt me much worse.' he thought bitterly.

He asked one of his classmates to switch seats with him. The boy he asked quickly agreed. For once he was glad that his looks got him what he wanted. Class passed by uneventfully and before he knew it, lunch time arrived. He quickly exited the room before Hikaru had a chance to stop him. A part of him hated treating her like this, but another part of him couldn't bring himself to care. It's true that he may have been mean to her when they first met, but he hadn't hurt her like she had him. Right? He growled and took out a cigarette. Stressing out made him smoke more. He was not happy with this new train of thought. Had he brought this on himself? He had tried to steal Hikaru away from Takara when they first started dating so how was this any different from what he had done?

Arata hung his head in shame. Karma was indeed a bitch. After everything he had done to her, maybe this was for the best. It didn't mean it hurt any less. She was the first and only person he had ever opened up to, but it was because he loved her so much that he was willing to let her go. Arata put out his cigarette and steeled his new resolve. He was about to walk away when he saw Takara and Ami talking not too far from him. It was very tempting to get closer and listen to what they were discussing. He shook his head and walked away.

'No. I need to giver her back to Takara. If I don't do this she will never leave my side to find her true happiness.'

Perhaps he was finally growing up. His original plan to challenge Takara to a match seemed so juvenile. Perhaps they were both still children in that aspect. He hoped though, that this was a first step in the right direction.

He waited until almost everyone was out of the class room before he approached Hikaru. Arata walked up to her desk and stood silently in front of her. She in turn looked up at him in surprise.

"We need to talk."

That was all he said before he turned and began to walk away. Hikaru looked alarmed as she gathered her things and quickly followed after him. They both walked in silence until they reached the lockers. No one was around anymore. Arata quickly flipped out his cell phone and send a message before turning to Hikaru. Her eyes were already brimming with tears. She must have sensed what was coming next.

"I'm breaking up with you."

Tears began to cascade from her eyes. She brought her hands up in an attempt to cover her face. Arata felt a pain in his chest he couldn't describe. This was probably the most difficult thing he had ever done.

"Arata...please...don't..."

"No." he said firmly.

She winced at the tone of his voice.

"I am not a very forgiving person." Arata continued. "Maybe that's childish of me, but I can't stand to look at you anymore."

Hikaru only cried harder at that. She couldn't bear Arata hating her. Arata heard someone running towards them.

"Hikaru!"

She lifted her head to see Takara standing behind Arata. He was out of breath. Arata didn't wait any longer and turned to Takara. They looked at each other momentarily before Arata walked past his half-brother.

"Take care of her." Arata whispered as he passed.

He didn't bother to turn around to see what happened. He continued to walk until he was back home. Hiyoko greeted him like she always did. It brought a sad smile to his face. This was how his first love ended. It was bitter and many tears were shed, but he realized he had matured because of it. This must have been how she felt like when Takara broke up with her. Love sure worked in a funny way. He wiped his eyes. Curse these tears. He was not going to cry forever about this. He proceeded to move into this apartment and began packing. It was time to move on.

*End Flashback*

Arata remembered that day well. Summer break came almost right after that. He managed to take his tests and get all his school work done before the break. He knew he couldn't stand to be in the same school as his ex and half-brother for long. He tried to feel no ill will towards Hikaru but the wounds were still fresh in his mind. As for Takara, he was convinced he would never come to like the boy. Ever. A new home for Hiyoko was also found with, surprisingly, Ami. She and Arata had a nice talk before he left and she volunteered to take in the puppy. He was very grateful for that and also glad that he made a new friend in Ami. Arata stopped reminiscing to look at his surroundings. He'd been traveling for a better part of the month around Japan, trying to find something. He wasn't sure what he was looking for but he hoped this trip would give him the answers he sought. After leaving the Sumida ward, he traveled to Kyoto, Saitama, Nagoya, and Osaka. In each new city he always sought out a new karate school. Fighting was still his only outlet for his anger, but he decided it was best to try to put it to good use. Thus he began seeking out schools to learn more forms of the art and perhaps curb his anger in the process. This ambition was the only thing driving him at the moment. Thanks to that though, he heard an interesting story from one of the schools in Osaka. Apparently, Nerima had a very interesting set of martial artists who knew an insane form of the art. Arata asked for a more specific description of what insane meant, but the things they told him sounded unbelievable. When he asked how they knew this, they told him that a martial artists that frequented Nerima stopped by their dojo every now and then looking for his way back to the ward. After hearing that from them he journeyed back to Tokyo. He never expected to be back at all. The plan was to travel around, continue learning the art, and find a new place to move to. Returning to Tokyo had not been in the plan, but hearing about these insane martial artists made it far too tempting.

He figured though that the stories were more exaggerated than anything. He decided he'd go check it out and once the story he was told was proven wrong, he'd leave. He still needed to find a new place to live after all and his summer break was quickly coming to an end. He grabbed his backpack and stood up. That was a good enough break. He continued his walk towards the Nerima district. The closer he got, the more he began to doubt these stories. Everything seemed normal thus far. There were no crazy martial artists jumping across rooftops or crazy "ki" attacks he'd heard about. Was this all a wild goose chase? A growl began to form in his throat. If his time had been wasted he was going to make someone pay. A different kind of growl distracted him from his train of thought. It seemed that his stomach demanded it be given sustenance. He walked further into the ward and came upon a Chinese restaurant. It looked like a pretty popular place considering all the people he saw walking in and out. With a shrug, he walked towards the restaurant. He wasn't feeling very picky about his meal. The moment he set foot inside, his senses were assaulted with the aroma of delicious food.

"Nihao!"

Arata's attention was shifted to a bubbly purple haired girl. She was pretty, in his opinion anyway.

"Welcome to Nekohanten! Please take seat. Shampoo take order in moment!"

He nodded to the girl and took a seat at one of the available tables. He set his backpack on an extra chair at the table and began to scan the menu for his meal. After choosing something, he set to observing his surroundings. The purple haired girl seemed to be the only waitress and a boy with glasses was cleaning off the tables. If there was one thing he could tell, it was that they were martial artists. The girl especially seemed to have a certain grace in the way she moved. He snuck a peek towards the kitchen and caught a glimpse of, quite possibly, the oldest person he'd ever seen. Despite her age though, there was a certain aura about her. Arata couldn't put his finger on it, but there was more to that old grandma than met the eye.

"Is ready to order?"

Arata smiled politely at the waitress. "Yeah, can I have..."

His order was abruptly cut short when something came crashing from the roof. Arata grabbed his backpack and quickly flipped back towards safety. The waitress that had been taking his order did the same, but now she suddenly had two weapons in her hand. They had a medium lenght handle with large solid metal spheres on the ends. She spared him a glance before turning her attention back to the form that had crashed through the roof. A boy, about his age, lay on the broken table.

"Ranma!"

The purple haired girl yelled as she ran to the fallen boy. No sooner had she reached him, another body came crashing through the roof. This time it was another boy. He had a yellow bandanna around his head and was carrying an umbrella.

"Ranma! Prepare to die!"

The other boy, Ranma, seemed to snap out of his unconscious state and quickly jumped to avoid the bandanna wearing boys assault with his umbrella. Surprisingly, the Chinese waitress was still firmly attached to him as he did so. He parried the boys attacks, then suddenly, his hands moved so fast that he could only see blurs. The other boy was then uppercut through the roof.

"Cut it out Ryoga! It ain't my fault Akane's mad about something!" he then turned to the girl latched on to him. "Shampoo, let me go! If Akane sees this she'll..."

"RANMA!" yelled a girl with short hair stood at the door with a dangerous red aura surrounding her.

"Akane! I-It's not what it looks like!"

"Saotome! Release my beloved Shampoo!" The boy that was cleaning the tables came out of no where. He was missing his glasses

"Mousse go away. No get in Shampoo's way!"

It was then that everyone seemed to have cleared out of the immediate area, with the exception of Arata who was too stunned at the sudden turn of events. The short haired girl, Akane, stalked towards Ranma. It was evident that the boy was as good as dead. The girl produced a hammer out of thin air and rushed towards the boy. At the same time, the busboy was running...straight towards Arata! Had he not grabbed a broken piece of wood to block, Arata would have been impaled by a series of small daggers. Shampoo, quickly let go of Ranma after she noticed Mousse attacking the wrong person. A client no less! She was about to knock him out with one of her weapons when the old lady came out of the kitchen and stopped her.

"No child. I'm interested to see what this boy does."

Shampoo lowered her weapons. "Yes, great-grandmother."

Meanwhile Akane, paid no head to anything else around her and swung her mallet sending Ranma flying through the roof once again. He screamed something about an uncute tomboy as he flew into the lower atmosphere. Her work complete, she stalked out of the restaurant without so much as an apology. Arata meanwhile was busy dodging all the random objects Mousse seemed to produce out of his sleeves.

'This is insane! No one should be able to carry that many things!'

"I'm not Ranma!" Arata tried to plea with the blind boy.

"Ha! Like that trick will work on me Saotome!"

Arata had been in a lot of fights but nothing like this. This boy was trying to kill him. For real. A part of him was scared to death but another was brimming with excitement. After all, it seemed those stories were not so far fetched. Tired of dodging, he began to take the offensive. It was obvious who was the better fighter here, but that didn't discourage Arata. If he couldn't win with skill, he would just have to play dirty. Arata noticed a pitcher of some sort of liquid on the ground. He smirked as he kicked the pitcher towards the blind martial artist. He had hoped that there was something hot in there so that it would distract him long enough for him to knock him out. The last thing he expected, however, was for Mousse to turn into a duck. Arata felt his jaw drop.

'What the hell?'

How was something like that even possible? One minute he was a guy, next a duck. Arata got closer and picked up the quacking animal. It felt real enough. He turned the duck upside down and checked him from all angles to make sure it wasn't an illusion. Even after he had confirmed that it was not a trick, his mind could not process what he had just seen. It made no sense. People didn't just randomly turn into animals.

"Oh dear. If it's not one thing it's another around here."

Arata turned to towards the voice. It was the old lady. She hoped over to him on a wooden staff.

"I do apologize for the trouble. He usually does not attack bystanders. Please, allow me to compensate you for the trouble with a free meal."

He dropped the angerly quacking duck.

"Um, sure. Thank you, umm..."

"You may call me Cologne and what is your name young man?"

"Ichikawa Arata."

"Well then Ichikawa-san please make yourself comfortable."

Arata picked up one of the tables that was still intact along with a chair that had somehow survived all the madness. Meanwhile, Cologne set to work preparing a meal for him. Shampoo took this chance to lock Mousse up in a cage and took him towards the back of the restaurant. Arata waited patiently while his meal was prepared. He didn't have to wait long. Shampoo and Cologne emerged from the back with his food. They sat down and let Arata consume his meal in silence. Once he was done, Shampoo took his plate and Cologne cleared her throat.

"I expect you have some questions about what you have just witnessed. At first I believed you were another martial artists coming to challenge Ranma, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Most people tend to attack him straight away once he's been identified. So, what brings you to Nerima Ichikawa-san?"

"Just Arata please. Well while I was in Osaka, I was practicing with some students from the local martial arts school when they told me about some insanely skilled martial artists here. At first I thought it was completely far fetched but after what I saw today, I have to believe it. Though I was not expecting that guy to turn into...a duck. I wasn't told about that."

"Yes, that is a unique curse that comes from our home land of China."

"Curse? You mean things like that actually exist?"

"Indeed. There are many mysteries in the world and that just happens to be one of them. You mentioned you practice the art?"

Arata shrugged. "A bit I suppose. I use to use it mainly for random street fights, but recently I've started to use it to discipline myself."

"I see. If you don't mind me asking, what brought on this change?"

"It's a long story." Arata said with a sigh.

"Well the restaurant will be closed for the rest of the evening because of all the damage. I have time."

Arata looked at her suspiciously. "Why is it that you care to hear my tale? I've been traveling around for the better part of a month and no one has question my reason for what I do."

Cologne turned towards the kitchen. "Shampoo, make us some tea."

"Yes, great-grandmother!"

She turned back to Arata. "Young man, I have lived for a very long time. I've seen and met many people and I see something in you. I can see that you carry a deep sadness that normally no teenager should. I'm simply giving you an outlet other than your fists."

"But why? If there's one thing I've learned it's that no one does anything nice for no reason. What is it that you want from me?"

"Here is tea!" Shampoo placed the tray of tea on the table.

"Thank you Shampoo. Go ahead and take the rest of the evening off."

"Aiya, I go visit Ranma!"

Arata patiently waited for Cologne to explain her interest in him. She served them both tea and took a sip before continuing.

"You are very perceptive. I'm starting to like you even. You are correct however, there is a reason I've taking an interest in you. But before I give you my reason, I want to hear why you travel. After you've told me your tale, I shall tell you why."

Arata still looked at her suspiciously. "I won't be forced into anything?"

"Nothing at all."

He sighed. As far as he could tell there was no harm in telling his life story. She wouldn't be able to gain much from who he was. There was nothing of value that he owned or would inherit. It was sad really. He looked at her. She was patiently waiting for him to begin his tale. Maybe this could be good for him. He might find some wisdom within this old lady.

"Alright. I guess it began when my mother met a Japanese man during her first year of university in England..."

A few hours later, Arata had laid out his soul for this person he barely even knew. In all honestly, he never felt better. It was like a weight was lifted from his shoulders. Ever since he left, his emotions continued to fester. Not just from his break up with Hikaru, but from the years of neglect he'd suffered at the hands of his so called family. Ami was nice to talk to about certain things, but he'd never be able to talk to her about his family issues. Regardless of their new friendship, she still saw Takara and his family in a positive light. Cologne though, knew nothing of either family and would not judge him for how he felt about the entire situation.

"Thank you."

"For what child?"

"For listening. For not judging me. Only one person ever listened to what I said, but even she was biased."

Cologne shook her head. "It's no trouble at all. The soul can only take so much pain before it starts to descend into darkness."

Arata chuckled. "Well then, I believe you were going to tell me why your being so nice to me?"

"Of course. As I had said, at first I thought you came here in search of Ranma. Many a martial artist comes here to test their skills against him. After hearing your story however it sounds like your just looking for your place in the world. I can help you with that if you choose to accept my offer."

"How so?" Arata was getting a bad feeling. It's true that he was extremely grateful for her sympathetic ear, but somehow it seemed like he got cornered into something.

"I am willing to teach you the art from my village, however, you must be willing to marry one of the girls from our village."

"Marriage?" It was too soon to be thinking about something like that! He was still trying to get over a broken heart. There was no way he could even consider being with anyone at the moment.

"It doesn't have to be now. I'll give you until the age of 25 to find a suitable wife from our village."

"But why me? I mean there's gotta be more suitable candidates..."

"Like I have stated, I see something special in you. Our village has been in isolation for countless years now. While we do have some modern amenities electricity, running water and printing press, our people know almost nothing of the modern world and in turn, the world knows almost nothing about us. Recently, I proposed we send more of our village females to seek husbands outside of the village that do not necessarily have great physical strength but a means for providing for a better future. From what I can see, not only do you posses a great physical strength with potential to grow, but I suspect you also have a bright future ahead of you. Our village needs more men like you. We have lived far too long with the belief that our village could continue to survive in isolation. The truth is however, our numbers are falling to dangerous levels. We have to change if we are to ensure the survival of our village and culture. In order for us to do so, I have been conducting an experiment to prove to the elders of the village that we cannot continue with our old ways. My great-granddaughter does not know, but she is part of the experiment."

"I think I need to hear more about your people to fully understand what kind of situation your in."

"Of course."

Thus Cologne explained to Arata all about the Amazon Village she hailed from. At some point Shampoo returned and listened in to some of the history her great grandmother was telling the stranger. Cologne explained to Arata how centuries ago, it was a purely matriarchal society where men were treated like second class citizens and were regarded more for breeding the next generation of warriors than anything else. It wouldn't be until years later, when the first outsiders came across the village that the men realized there was something more out there than the oppressive society they had been born into. It was then that vast majority of the male population began to abandon the village, that the elders gathered and decided it was time for change. Slowly, the men began to receive equal treatment from the women of the village. It took decades seeing as how the older generation was still stuck in the old way of doing things. Once the younger generations, who had been taught the new ways, were grown things began to change for the better. The men, for the most part, stopped abandoning the village. Although, now men and women outsiders began to come across the village more often than before. At the time, the people of the village did not know of the expanding world, however, the elders were worried about all the outsiders that came across the village, especially those males that began to take an interest in their women. They did not wish for weak warriors to breed with the women and thus they created a new set of laws. First, no information about their culture and martial arts abilities were to be shared. They did not wish for outsiders to know the secrets to their strengths. Next, in order for a male outsider to be wed or court a female Amazon, she needed to be defeated in combat. Once that happened, the female would be free to marry the outsider. The law, however, began to be skewed by some of the elders once they realized the potential for gaining stronger children with male outsiders. Instead it was used as a means for the women to chase down any man that defeated them in combat, regardless of his knowledge about the law, and marry him. She then had to bring him back to the village where they would raise a family. They did not want their warriors to raise any children outside the village for they feared they would abandon their Amazon heritage if they did so. Failure resulted in loss of honor and further punishment. Then something unthinkable happened. A women outsider defeated one of the village warriors. Thus this resulted in the creation of a new law that became known as "The Kiss of Death". This forced the disgraced warrior to hunt down the women outsider who defeated her and kill her. These laws then became the norm in the village. At this point of the story Shampoo had decided to excuse herself for the night. Arata and Cologne bid her good night.

Cologne decided to refresh their tea so that Arata could digest the information he'd been given so far. He'd never heard of such a society before, much less one that was still around. It was quite a feat for sure. If his grand father knew about such a society he was sure he'd up and leave England in order to study something about them. He was, after all, a very well respected Anthropologist at Cambridge University. Perhaps some of his grand father's passion in anthropology rubbed off on him because he was becoming more and more intrigued with every passing second. If Cologne wanted him to marry into her village it's because he could offer something in turn that could help them survive and integrate into the modern world. Arata wasn't sure what it was he could possibly offer them yet, but he couldn't find a reason not to help. Other than the whole marriage thing, the possibility of helping an entire culture of people was so...exciting. There was no other way to explain the feeling. This was it. This was what he had been searching for. Something to give him a positive drive in life. Cologne returned with more tea and continued to explain to him their villages plight.

"These laws have remained unchanged for a few hundred years now. Although they helped for the most part, in more recent times the village has had problems with them. Male outsiders have been less receptive to be binded to the law since they do not wish to be forced to live in the village. Even though the female warriors chase them down in hopes of marrying them, the males are not forced to due to the fact that Amazonian laws are not recognized by any world government. In any country the male may be chased to, the female warrior has no choice but to give up once the laws of the males home country protect him from having to agree to the Amazonian law. The Kiss of Death has also caused nothing but problems. There may have been a time in history when killing to restore one's honor was acceptable but that time has long passed. In today's world, laws prohibit killing for such reasons and our female warriors have found that they are imprisoned for such actions. We have lost many a good warriors to these changes in history yet the village elders refuse to see the need for change. We need to modify the marriage law to allow our females to raise families outside the village and to allow more outsiders be integrated into our village as well. And of course we need to do away with the Kiss of Death."

"I see. So your hoping that by allowing your villages females to marry someone for other than their physical strength, you will gain more diversity in your ranks and allow you to expand into the outside world."

"Indeed. Although it pains me to say this, but my great grand daughter shall become the one to prove that the village needs to change the laws. The Kiss of Death has already enough proof to show that it no longer has a place in our world. The law for marriages shall be what she will prove invalid."

"How so?"

"That boy from earlier, Ranma, beat Shampoo and so in accordance with the marriage law, she's been chasing him for about a year now and has been unable to bind him to her. Plus the boy has more girl problems than you can shake a stick at, but that is beside the point. She doesn't know it but she is helping me prove how ineffective the marriage law has become. With all the evidence I have thus far, I am hoping you will provide some assistance by helping her integrate with more of her peers. It's true that she is a warrior and has been brought up as such, however, she is also a teenage girl. What I would like to do is prove that she can lead, what is considered here, a normal teenagers life and still retain her proud heritage."

Arata gave it some thought. It's true that in order to disprove something, evidence that something new could take it's place was needed. It seemed that so far, Cologne had gathered a good amount of proof to appeal to her village. The part for needing to integrate Shampoo was a vital because like any society, they worried that their culture and heritage would be forgotten. If Cologne could show that was not necessarily the case, then their village could begin to make the adjustments they needed in order to become part of the modern world.

"That makes sense. So I suppose I happen to come around at a perfect time for you."

Cologne nodded. "Yes. I was hoping to ask Ranma for his assistance in this matter, but as you have seen, the boy already has a rather complicated life to deal with. I doubt he will be able to provide the help we need in order to ensure success. He may be a powerful martial artists, but this endeavor requires more than just brute strength. No offense to the boy, but his people skills leave a lot to be desired. You on the other hand are a pretty normal teenager. Even with the problems you've had at home, your social skills have not been damaged."

Once again she was pretty accurate with her assumption. Although he had trouble letting people get too close to him, he got along rather well with his peers at school. It also didn't hurt that he had the looks of a model.

"Also, you have not yet formed a biased opinion of my great-granddaughter. I could have asked any of the other boys or girls in the area to help, but they all already view her as somewhat of a home wrecker considering that Ranma was already engaged to Akane Tendo before she came to stake her claim. She's been here for almost a year yet none of the boys or girls from the area have bothered to get to know her. As you can image, that's not very good conditions for asking for any of their help. It was fortunate that you happen to come by. If you had not, then I believe my plans would have been set back several more years. Sooner or later, Ranma will make his choice and I already believe he will choose the Tendo girl. Once that happens we would be forced to return home. Although this would help show that the marriage law needs to be changed, I don't believe this will be enough for the elders to consent to the appeals."

"Sounds logical, but will just Shampoo's conversion be enough? I don't see them agreeing just because you had one success story."

Cologne smiled. She was getting to like him more and more. She made the right choice to wait for the right person as opposed to asking some random teenager in the area. Unfortunately all of the teens in Nerima knew too well of the craziness that Ranma seemed to attract and the negative impact Shampoo's presence brought as well. She knew that once Ranma chose, which probably wouldn't be until he graduated high school, she would have no choice but to return to China because there would be no viable reason for her to remain in Japan. If that happened, who knew how long it would take for another chance like this to occur. Her ability to conduct her experiment was easier since Shampoo was her great-granddaughter, therefore, she had a good reason to remain in Japan for so long. As a member of their council she needed to make sure all basis were covered. There was little room for error.

"You are correct. Shampoo's conversion is not going to be enough, which is why I ask that you help with Mousse as well. He might prove to be more of a challenge considering he's too pre-occupied with trying to win Shampoo over. Still if even he can be converted without incident then it will prove rather compelling. I have also asked that they send two other young ladies from the village. Their names are Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung. I have made the council aware of what I am planning to do and I have requested they send me these two girls in order to prove to them that even the younger warriors of our village can become part of the outside world without forgetting where they came from. So young man, are you willing to help? I realize that I may be asking for a lot for your cooperation, but you must understand: I am willing to do whatever it takes to ensure my people survive. I believe you can become a valuable asset and it would be foolish of me to let you slip away."

"Which is why you've asked that I marry into your village if I agree to become your student right?"

"Correct."

"Hmm, well there are pros and cons to this deal. It's true that I don't want to be forced into any marriage, but that won't matter if we can get your appeals to go through. Plus it's not like your making me do this and I do believe you've given me enough time to find a wife. I could easily say no and move on with my life, but..."

"But?"

"I think this is a good opportunity for myself. I've been living most of my life with no positive motivation. My goal on this trip was to find my place in the world. Something I never really felt I've had. Even with the marriage looming over my head, I don't think I want to turn down this deal. If we fail I'd have to return with you to China but I will still continue to help you in changing your village." Arata smirked. "If there's one thing I'm good at it's causing trouble. Your village won't know what hit them. I accept your offer."

Cologne felt very fortunate indeed. Arata didn't know it but he would become her trump card. He had chosen to become part of the village out of his free will. While it's true that she was forcing him to marry, he had been given an out before he joined. This would prove that outsiders could and would willingly join the tribe and become integrated with their people. The only thing that could be better was if Shampoo, Mousse, Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung found significant others that were willing like Arata was. Perhaps it was fate that this young man came into her restaurant. She extended her hand to Arata who gently grasped it in a handshake, finalizing the deal.

AN: Thanks for reading. R&R and please no flames. Until next, whenever that might be.