Ranma was pensive for the next two days. He tried not to show it, but the upcoming change in his life was pressing in on him. Currently, he was sitting up on the roof of the Tendou home waiting for it to be closing time at Uchan's Okonomiyaki Shop. He had put this off as long as he could and it was the real reason he was so anxious. He was getting married tomorrow and did not want to risk doing it the day of the wedding.

The only things he could offer Ukyou were the price of the yatai, which thankfully his mother had said she would provide, and the offer of adoption. He did not think it would be enough to save their friendship, but maybe after she cooled down things would be better.

He sighed and stood up and started making his way to the restaurant across the rooftops.

When he entered the shop, there were a few people finishing up, but the shop was pretty empty. Konatsu was cleaning tables and Ukyou was starting to scrape down the grill.

"Ranchan!" Ukyou called. "Let me start one cooking on the grill for you!"

"Hi, Uchan," he responded, trying to maintain his calm. "Hi, Konatsu."

"Ranma-sama," the male kunoichi murmured with a quick bow of his head.

Ranma took in the aroma of grilling okonomiyaki with pleasure. He figured it would be a while before he smelled it again, and not just because he was leaving for America. When she was done grilling it, he plopped down a few bills on the counter.

Ukyou frowned. "You know you don't have to pay, Ranchan."

"I figure, I've abused our friendship long enough, Uchan," he said. "I need to start growing up and taking responsibility for myself."

A tightness developed around Ukyou's eyes. "But when we're married everything that's mine will be yours anyway, right?" she said.

His heart clenched within himself and he said, "I have some good news, Uchan. My mother has said that she would pay for the cost of your yatai with a generous interest rate."

Ukyou's spatula clattered to the floor and the remaining customers fled the restaurant.

"What do you mean, Ranma?" she said. Ranma noticed the lack or her normal nickname for him.

"I mean that I'm taking responsibility and cleaning up the mess Pop made of my life. I'm returning your dowry so that some semblance of honor can be kept. I know that this is not what want to hear, but eventually I hope that we can be friends again."

She stared at him angrily. "I thought I was your cute fiancée!"

He sighed. "You are cute, Ukyou, but I've decided that I will not marry any of the girls that fought over me like a prize."

She temporized. "I can understand you not wanting to get married now. But you don't have to pay back the yatai, now. I can wait for you to be ready."

He shook his head. "I am getting married—within the next week—just not to any of the girls that chased me."

"What!? But it's not just the yatai! You owe me for the ten years I was forced to pretend to be a boy!" she said angrily.

He sighed. "This is one of the reasons I never seriously considered marrying you. You blame me for something that wasn't my fault."

"Not your fault!" she said angrily. "You left me by the side of the road!"

He shook his head. "I was six, Ukyou! I thought you were a boy! I didn't even know what a girl was, except that Pop said they were weak. There was no way my buddy Uchan could be a weak girl. When you came back I didn't want to ruin our renewed relationship by denying the engagement, but marrying my buddy always felt weird.

"Now my Pop is a liar, but one time when he was drunk and feeling good, I asked him about what had happened when we were little. He told me that your father proposed the engagement, but Pop refused telling him about the Tendou engagement. Your father persisted and offered the yatai as a dowry and Pop folded like the weak fool that he is. It seems to me that your father has a problem if he blamed you for not being able to hold an engagement as a six-year old when Pop was shown to be willing to toss them aside at the slightest bribe." He was getting worked up. "I'm the one that should be furious here. All the engagements are your father's fault for putting the idea into Pop's fool head!"

Ukyou's eyes were starting to water. "Get out," she said quietly.

Ranma's anger vanished. "Look, I'm sorry for getting worked up. I'm just tired of getting blamed for everything that Pop or anyone else does. I just got to say one more thing and then I'll leave. My mom has offered to adopt you if your father doesn't relent and allow you to be registered as a girl. She says that she would have sole authority, so that Pop couldn't do something stupid to you."

He turned to leave. "Bye Ukyou. I'm sorry that this hurts you. I hope we can be friends again someday."

As his hand touched the door, Ukyou said, "Wait. Who are you marrying?"

He smiled wanly. "Kasumi. I'd like to invite you to the wedding, but after the last time we're doing family only." He didn't bring up what she had done then.

"Kasumi?" she asked, confused. "Do you love her?"

"Not in the way you're asking, but I do. This is my escape from the madness and she needs some help for something that has come up for her suddenly. We'll be leaving the country for a while, not long after the wedding. I don't know when we'll be back, but I expect we will, at least to visit. Take care of yourself, Uchan."

He walked out of the door.

The wedding was in a quiet shrine of Inari, just outside of Tokyo. Ranma wondered what the priest would do if he knew whom he was hosting. They had decided on a traditional Shinto wedding, so Ranma was wearing a kimono. He was feeling washed out and unresponsive. He was making a very big commitment, because he thought he ought to—not because it was something he really wanted for himself.

Kasumi walked in with her father looking very beautiful and serene in her kimono. They waited while the priest purified the altar. Ranma nervously went through the sake-sharing ceremony with Kasumi. Only his skill as a marital artist kept him from spilling it. He nervously said their vows and then the two of them left their offering on the shrine after the priest had done so. After their families had left their offerings, the two of them exchanged rings. His mother had offered to buy them fancy rings, but he had refused. He had about 30,000 yen saved that he had managed to hide from his father and Nabiki that he had used to buy a simple gold ring with a ruby solitaire. He figured that Kasumi would appreciate a simple ring that he had bought himself more than a fancy ring he could have had his mother buy. He got the idea that his mother was also pleased with his choice. The ring that Kasumi gave him was also simple: a plain gold band. They smiled at each other.

"I like the ring, Ranma," she said quietly. "The color reminds me of your hair."

He blushed a little. The bright red of the ring's gem did match his other form's hair somewhat. "I figured you'd like something unique better than what all the other girls had. I also wanted to buy it myself."

"I got you a necklace for yours that I'll give you later," Kasumi said, "so that you don't have to wear it on your finger. That way it won't get damaged or get in the way during your fights."

"Thanks, Kasumi!" he said.

There was a short reception in the garden outside the shrine, but no additional guests were invited. The fathers were already getting drunk toasting the "joining of the schools." Ranma was at a loss as to why they were so excited. Kasumi did not know the Tendou School of Anything Goes. Even Akane did not, since her father had never taught her anything other than the basics.

After they had eaten a short lunch, Ranma's mother cornered the newlyweds. "I know you two haven't had a lot of time to get used to this, but I recommend that you consummate your marriage before you leave for America so that Kasumi's family can't claim it's a fraud. In fact, I recommend you do it tonight, since if you put it off, it will just be harder to do. Regardless of whether you take that advice, come see me tomorrow or the next day at the place where you met me before, Ranma. I have gifts for the two of you that will help you in America."

Ranma and Kasumi both turned bright red at the advice. They quickly offered their thanks and hugged her goodbye.

They made their goodbyes to the rest of the families. Kasumi hugged her sisters and her father. Ranma and his father punched each other in the shoulder. He exchanged bows with Nabiki and Soun and a hug with Akane.

"Take care of my sister, Jerk," she said.

"I will, Sister," he said with a smile.

"I know you will, Sister," she responded with a smirk.

"Hey!" he said, but he smiled anyway.

Ranma and Kasumi had taken his mother's advice at Kasumi's insistence. He had enjoyed it and he thought Kasumi had too, once some initial unpleasantness was past. He still was not sure what he thought of her being his wife, but he did know that he did not like the way that other men looked at her as they walked to his mother's house. He was feeling very protective of her. He had always known that Kasumi was attractive, but she had tended to fade into the background of his life in Nerima. Now he was acutely aware of how beautiful she was.

His mother greeted them at the door. "Please come in!"

Kasumi, who had felt been nervous, the whole way there, bowed to his mother and followed him in.

"Please be seated while I make tea," his mother said as she guided them to the front room.

"I can do that, Mother," Kasumi offered. Nodoka had insisted that she start calling her that even before the wedding ceremony.

"Nonsense," Nodoka said, "You're a guest in my home and I still consider it your honeymoon. Please sit down."

She returned a few minutes later with a pitcher of tea and a tray of snacks. She smiled at them. "I hope you are enjoying yourselves so far."

Both newlyweds blushed. Nodoka chuckled lightly. "I'm glad that you took my advice. I've been married multiple times, a few of them arranged marriages, and I find it's best to just jump right in."

"Uh, Mother," Kasumi said nervously, "Ranma said that you are Inari Oukami. Is that true?"

"Yes, it is, but I would prefer that you treat me as a normal mother-in-law. I prefer to be out among people without the tedious ceremony that happens when people treat me as a god."

"But. . ." Kasumi started.

Nodoka shook her head. "I have more shrines in Japan than even Amaterasu. I don't need worship from you, Kasumi. I'd rather be a mother to you, or at least an aunt."

"Have you always been a god, Mom?" Ranma asked.

She shook her head. "I was born human. It's possible I could have a divine parent or ancestor, but none ever claimed me. I was, however, the one that introduced rice to Japan and created sake. My legend grew after that and things snowballed out of control, in my opinion."

"What about the other gods?" asked Kasumi.

"Amaterasu and her siblings claim that their parents, Izanagi and Izanami, created the islands of Japan and came into existence spontaneously with a few others following the creation of the world by the Kotoamatsukami. Since I came after that, I don't know which creation myth, if any, are true."

She looked at Kasumi. "You should know that your mother's family are the Greek gods. They have their own creation myth. It ignores the other pantheons, so I doubt that it's exactly right, but parts of it might be."

She turned to Ranma, "You should know that other gods are not as laid back as me. The Greeks, Kasumi's family, are particularly proud. If you mouth off to one, they're likely to do something drastic. You being my son will shield you very little."

"Drastic how?" Ranma asked, curious.

"Zeus is fond of lightning bolts, but all of them are fond of transformation curses."

Ranma grimaced. One transformation curse was enough.

"I called you here, however, to give you my gifts." She smiled. "First, for your wedding presents, I have a translation charm for each of you." She gave them each a necklace. "These charms will allow you to speak and understand any earthly language. I've also added an additional charm to it that will allow you to be able to read English and Ancient Greek."

"Thanks, Mom," Ranma said. "That helps a lot. I don't know about Kasumi, but my English isn't great."

"My English is good for a Japanese High School graduate," said Kasumi, "but I've always been bad at reading it."

Nodoka nodded. "That's actually quite common for Greek demigods. You are wired for Greek and it makes reading other scripts difficult. The only reason you don't have a problem with Japanese is that you are a distant descendent of mine."

"Really?" she said looking at Ranma. "But. . ."

"It was over 300 years ago, Kasumi. Don't worry about it," Nodoka said calmly. "The other thing that Greek demigods have to worry about according to Apollo is that they have a difficulty concentrating on many common tasks."

"Oh," said Kasumi, "I did have that problem, but I managed to train myself to overcome it. It still happens sometimes when I try something new." She giggled. "I was as bad as Akane at cooking when I first started, but once I got started it seemed to click."

"A gift from your mother, I think," said Ranma's mother. "Hestia is the Goddess of the Hearth, Architecture, and Domesticity.

"Ranma," she said, "your charm will also change your clothing to fit you, no matter what form you're in."

"It won't put me in dresses, will it?" he asked suspiciously.

"It will change your clothes to the equivalent of what you're wearing," she explained. "It shouldn't change them to skirts or dresses unless you're wearing formal clothes or a uniform where the equivalent female version includes a skirt." She stared at her son. "I'm tired of my 'daughter' running around in ill-fitting clothes with her chest bouncing all over the place."

Ranma wanted to complain, but it would be nice to wear clothes that fit. It sounded like it would put him in girl's underwear, which made him uncomfortable, but he did agree that it would be nice to not have that part of him bounce when he ran.

"The second gift I have for you are these," she said. She handed Ranma a ring and Kasumi bracelet.

"I can't wear a ring, Mom, because of the curse and the Art," Ranma said. "In fact, I'll be wearing my wedding ring on a necklace."

She smiled. "This is a special ring, Ranma. It will adjust size when you change shape. Put it on."

She waited for him to do so and then said, "Turn it to the right."

Ranma turned it and knuckledusters appeared on both hands. He started.

"Most of the monsters that you will encounter in America are immune to ordinary physical damage. These knuckledusters are made of a special steel alloy called Heavenly Steel that will disrupt the magic that powers them. The Greeks like to use something they call Celestial Bronze, which does the same thing." She smiled. "I cast these myself. I used to be the God of Blacksmiths until one of my sons took that domain over from me. If you turn the ring back, the knuckledusters will disappear. If you turn the ring to the right, the knuckledusters will have claw-like blades on them."

Ranma tried it and three blades sprouted from between his fingers.

"Your bracelet, Kasumi, is actually a gift from your mother that Apollo passed on to me. Evidently, it's customary for a Greek god to give their child a gift when they claim them, which inspired me to prepare Ranma's gift. If you remove your bracelet, it will change into a Celestial Bronze skillet. You can change it back by twisting the handle. Your mother thought you would like it and it doubles as a club if monsters or your husband get out of line." She smirked.

"Thank you, Mother," Kasumi said.

Ranma rolled his eyes. He would be worried if it were Akane, but he could barely imagine Kasumi using it on him.

"Both of these gifts are charmed to reappear on you when no one is paying attention, if you lose them.

"My next gift is a double-edged sword. I won't feel bad if you refuse it." She looked at Ranma. "I can give you control over your curse."

"You can!?" he said, excitedly. "How is that double edged?"

She sighed. "I'm limited as to the power of the gifts I can give you without you having done a service for me. I can change the trigger of your curse, but not its effect. There are secondary effects of your curse to get you to spend half your time in your cursed form. This is why you attract water. If I make your trigger voluntary, you will have to spend half your time as a woman. If you spend more than 24 hours as a man, you will lose control of your curse and have to spend the next 24 hours as a woman. I would recommend spending 12 hours each day in each form, if you accept the gift. That way you won't build up 'karmic debt.' If you accept control, you will probably actually spend more time as a woman than you do now."

"Does sleeping count toward the time?" Ranma asked.

"It does, but you should ask your wife how she feels about that," his mother said.

"I don't mind," said Kasumi. "I'm not comfortable being intimate with you as a woman, but sleeping next to you that way is fine."

"Can I think about it?" Ranma asked.

His mother nodded. "Simply let me know what you decide.

"I also owe you a boon, for deciding to do the service I asked of you a few days ago."

Ranma thought she must be talking about marrying Kasumi, but didn't want to say so in Kasumi's presence.

"Can you remove my curse completely?" he asked, hopefully.

She shook her head. "I'm not going to."

"Why not?" he asked, growing irritated.

"Because I think it's good for you in that it helps you overcome the silly attitudes toward women your father taught you, but, more importantly, because I think the boon is better employed elsewhere."

"The Cat Fist," Kasumi whispered.

His mother nodded. "If there's one thing I regret your father doing to you more than anything, it's that. I can't remove it completely for the boon that you've earned, but I will make it so that you don't lose consciousness and I'll mute your 'fight or flight' instinct. This will make you nervous and anxious around them instead of terrified. You'll still enter the Cat Fist if you're around them too much, but you'll be able to remember what happened while you are under the influence and your 'cat self' will have more of your conscious mind and morality in it. At some point you may be able to eventually control it completely and train yourself to come out of it on your own."

Ranma grimaced. While he did not exactly hate the curse as much as he let people think, he would still rather be rid of it. However, he hated losing control of himself to the Cat Fist quite a bit more.

"Alright, I agree that solving my major Cat Fist issues is more important than the annoyance of my curse."

His mother smiled at him and placed her hand on his forehead. Her hand glowed momentarily and she said, "It's done."

He returned the smile and said, "Thanks, Mom."

Ranma and Kasumi were currently staying at a hotel while they were waiting to go to America. On their way back, a small rain shower lasted just long enough to activate Ranma's curse.

Ranma grimaced. "I guess it's been too long since my curse last activated."

When they got back to their hotel room, both the electronic tea kettle and the hot water in their bathroom were malfunctioning.

Ranma sighed. "This is one of the things I hate the most about the curse. It somehow interferes in my life to force me to be a girl when I don't want to be."

"Do you ever want to be a girl?" Kasumi asked, interested.

Ranma looked at her wife. She did not appear to be looking to condemn her. She sighed. "It's not so much that I want to be a girl sometimes, as much that sometimes I don't mind it." She grinned. "Although, ice cream tastes better as a girl."

"Really?" Kasumi asked dubiously.

"Well, it does to me," Ranma responded.

"I think that might be psychosomatic."

"Huh?"

Kasumi giggled. "It means it's all in your mind, Ranma."

Ranma frowned. "Isn't a lot of taste personal preference?"

"I would think so, but I wouldn't expect yours to change."

"All of my senses are a little bit different when I'm a girl, but usually it's a small change—there's just something about ice cream."

Kasumi giggled. "Okay. I believe you."

For some reason those words made her feel good. It seemed like nobody ever believed her. Even though it was a small thing they were talking about, it was still stuck out to her.

"What aspects of your curse do you hate the most?" Kasumi asked.

"Things like right now when it conspires to break my life. I'd like a warm bath because I'm cold, but I can't because the curse doesn't want me to be a man. I hate always being wet. I hate that it always choses the worst time to activate. Most of all, I hate how people treat me like a freak or a pervert when they find out about it."

"So it's not actually being a girl that bothers you?" Kasumi asked.

"To tell you the truth, I barely notice it anymore," Ranma admitted.

Kasumi giggled. "You don't notice those huge things on your chest."

"They only look huge because I'm petite," Ranma grumped.

Kasumi had another giggle attack.

"To answer your question," the redhead said once the brunette had calmed down, "I have excellent awareness of my body because of my martial arts, it just doesn't register consciously because I'm used to it."

"So, it sounds to me that taking your mother's offer would eliminate the things you hate most about the curse."

"I guess. I think the time-sharing requirement will still make it so people find out, especially if we have to share rooms with others at the camp we're going to."

"At least they'll be used to the supernatural," Kasumi said.

"So are people in Nerima," Ranma pointed out.