Chapter Ten:

Disclaimer: I don't own Ramna. Too bad.

When they came back from their vacation, they were almost exactly like they were before they left; Rei thought that her plan had failed, but in fact, it had half-way succeeded. Ryoga knew that she accepted his curse, and that she wouldn't ever keep him from Rei and Kai. He was just as much a part of their family as she was.

All four of them were one big family, and at times acted like it. Ryoga still stayed with her and the kids, and was happy with them.

But while Ryoga was fixing Rei some dinner, Ukyo came home from school like she always did, with Rei holding onto her dress and Kai in one hand. But that time, she looked hurt. Not physically hurt, but her face looked as if it was suppressing a lot of pain.

Ryoga gave Rei her food, and asked what happened to her Momma-Chan.

"I don't know. She just picked me up from school like that. I asked her what happened but she didn't say anything."

"Alright, I'm going to go talk to her." Rei nodded and ate while Ryoga went upstairs and saw Ukyo standing over Kai's cradle, stroking his puffs of hair. "Ucchan? Are you ok?" She nodded, sitting on her mat.

"I'm fine. Why did you think I wasn't?" He sat beside her on the mat.

"Because you look like you're upset." She was quiet, which gave Ryoga the signal that she wasn't OK. He moved over to her and put his arms around her. "Ranma again?" she nodded; she wasn't crying, she just looked empty. He hugged her close to him. "What happened?"

"Nothing." She replied, resting against his soft yellow shirt. "Except at lunch he had the nerve to ask me if I'd share mine with him because he'd forgotten his."

"What about Akane?"

"She told him it was his own damn fault and that he should get something from the cafeteria." He smiled at that softly, but kept his attention on Ukyo. "God I want things to go back to how they used to be. I want us to go back to working together to get what we want." She let tears seep from her eyes at the plead for the old days.

"Ukyo, you don't want that. You don't want to keep degrading yourself to get him to look at you. You don't need someone that has to be forced to look at you like he was." She kept her mouth shut, knowing that he was right; but not wanting to say anything. "see? If you think about it, you've got twice as much as he does. You've got two great kids, and me." Ukyo smiled, which Ryoga caught. "I knew I'd be able to make you smile. Are you hungry?" She nodded, not wanting to leave the embrace. "OK, I'll go make you some Okonomiyaki. Sound good?" She nodded again, moving away from him, and walking downstairs with him. She did feel better; she realized then that she did have a family. She had Ryoga, Rei, and Kai. They loved her and she loved them; pining for Ranma when he was Akane's; was just asking for pain.

Ryoga was talking to Ukyo while they were in their room, although it was at a whisper so he wouldn't wake Kai, whom had fallen asleep to the little fishy light sitting on the wall of his crib and illuminating the room.

"feeling any better?" he whispered.

"Much." She replied, sitting up and looking towards his direction. "Thanks Ryoga, for being here."

"Where else would I go?" He asked, also sitting up and looking at her through the aquamarine color of the fishy light. "I'm happy here." He could see bits and pieces of her face, and she looked happy to have him there.

"Can I sleep over there with you?" She asked softly, half hoping he didn't hear her. There was some silence, and then she heard him whisper back.

"By all means." She stood up and walked over to his side of the room; he moved to the right to make room for her, and part of him was thanking god she trusted him that much, and the other part was praying to god that he didn't think any impure thoughts and end up bleeding all over the place. She rested her head on the pillow, and so did he.

"Ryoga? Can we sleep like this all the time? I-I-I mean-"

"Ukyo." He interrupted. "I know what you mean, and of course we can. Whatever makes you happy." She smiled softly and let herself fall asleep beside him, happy that he wanted her to be happy, and happy that he didn't think she was too clingy for wanting to sleep beside him.

x.x ack, the fluff didn't go quite as planned, but it did :D anyway. I drew the horniest picture of Ukyo and Ryoga. PM me if you want the link.