Chapter 1
"This is it", Ranma thought to himself as he gazed up the ornate temple in which he and Akane were about to be married. "In a couple hours, it will all be over. The freedom to roam the world, the exorbitant, never-ending amount of fiances and the fights with Ryoga, Mousse and Kuno will all be things of the past. Life's excitement is fading fast and I do not seem to be doing anything to stop it. Seriously though, who does Akane think she is? She will probably still hit me and accuse me of being a pervert every day. Am I really going to have to eat her cooking? Jesus Christ what have I gotten myself in to?" The worries and stresses began to weigh heavily on Ranma's mind. His future began to seem more bleak than at any other time in his life. Every hopeless battle and failed attempt to find nannichuan paled in comparison to the dark pit Ranma was standing over. His strength was beginning to flow out of his body. Not the strength to fight or the strength to win (because he would always have those abilities in spades), but the strength to move forward. Suddenly a certain rumbling began to manifest in Ranma's stomach. If only he could have just some light, fluffy, crispy okonomiyaki, maybe it might clear the demons from his thoughts.
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The batter Ukyo was preparing for the wedding was not just any batter to be thrown upon the griddle, it was her recipe for times of surrender complete with salty tears fresh from her heavy, mourning eyes. Why did Ranma have to be such a tool? She could not understand what possible bond he could have with that rude and stupid Akane. Not only was she physically abusive, she was ready and willing to cut her Ran-Chan down with insults whenever she wanted to feel better about her insecure self. There was the fact that she was a martial artist with a dojo as ready dowry for any man willing to put up with her, but she was weak! She never trained or really took her Anything-Goes career with sincerity. She tried to defend the dojo multiple times by herself, but always failed. What did Ranma see in her? "He just might be the greatest martial artist in the world!" she said to her batter which was just thickening to the right consistency. "He may not be the most conventional, but he has never left a fight on the losing side. I need to go and prepare the sauce."
As the Okonomiyaki chef was pulling down ingredients from her shelf, she heard a "Yo-ho!" at the door. "Business is closed today, I am very sorry but you will have to come back tomorr... Ranma!" To Ukyo's surprise, there was her love standing at the door in his best outfit, looking quite ready to be married off in to the Tendo clan. "Hey U-chan, think I could get a seafood deluxe?" Without even realizing it, Ukyo was on the griddle faster than Happosai on a G-string. "Sure Ran-chan, how did you want your squid?" "The usual would be just fine." replied Ranma. The smell of cooking batter and sizzling shrimp began to stir emotions deep in Ranma's heart; this was no regular okonomiyaki, this was the food of his childhood. It had evolved as he and Ukyo had grown up together, but only to be better, not different. "Say U-chan?" Ranma began, "what do you think everyone would do if I said that I really did not want to marry Akane?"
"Well, your father would be relatively upset... that much is for sure. Mr. Tendo would turn in to his scary demon mode and shout 'NAAAAANNNNNIII?' and try to scare the crap out of you. Nabiki would complain about the waste of preparing everything and she would try and trap you in even more debt. Kasumi would just be air-headed ol' Kasumi. Akane might just find the world's biggest mallet and attempt to crush you to smithereens. I would say the only thing you would really have to worry about is Ryoga getting angry for you disgracing his precious Akane, he might get a little dangerous."
"I didn't expect such a comprehensive answer, but I think you may have hit all of the nails on the head." said Ranma. "Wait are you serious?!" exclaimed Ukyo, "You really aren't going to go through with the wedding?" Ranma started to fidget a little. He had just admitted something to Ukyo that he had sworn he would bottle up and never tell anyone about, ever. This wedding was for the betterment of all he had ever known. It would tie together his father's and his father's best friend's schools, and he would inherit the Tendo Dojo. His master Happosai's style would be safe and he would be able to help better Kasumi and Nabiki's lives, whom he had been depending on for a very long time. He thought hard how to respond to his life-long friend. He looked in to her eyes and as he was about to open his mouth, a swarm of butterflies appeared in his stomach. "Wait a minute, what is this feeling coming over me?" Ranma thought to himself. "Could I really be feeling what I think I am feeling?"
"What's wrong Ran-chan?" Ukyo asked. "You're looking at me all funny." Ranma knew what he had to do. He got up off of his stool and hopped over the griddle. He couldn't take it anymore. Ranma's universal alignment had changed and everything was beginning to come clear to him. Ukyo had provided for him without expecting anything since he could barely talk. Her love was unconditional and her skill at her art was beyond reproach. She may not have a dojo, but she also did not have an annoying family, nor did she have a ridiculous self esteem complex. Ukyo instinctively began to move closer to Ranma. She suddenly noticed she was becoming weak in her knees. She looked in to his eyes deeply, longingly. "Ranma..." He touched his hand to her face, noticing the enjoyable warmth in her cheek. "Fuck the Tendos, I have what I've always wanted... needed." He leaned in and kissed her with the first real honest kiss he had given any girl.
Ukyo was seeing stars. This was all she ever wanted. When their lips finally parted, Ranma's words were almost immediate, "If I wanted to leave, would you come with me?" "Ran-chan, I would follow you across the world."